PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – There were no signs of trouble when Tiger Woods looped around the 16th green en route to the 17th tee box…
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – There were no signs of trouble when Tiger Woods looped around the 16th green en route to the 17th tee box Friday morning at TPC Sawgrass.
He had just made another birdie to get to 5-under overall, two shots off the lead. The sun was shining brightly and Woods was now in serious contention, in control throughout the bag and relatively pain-free after missing last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational because of a neck strain.
Woods put the peg in the ground and stared down an island green he’d faced 68 times as a pro.
His 69th go-round included two balls in the water, seven shots overall and a career-worst quadruple bogey in front of a stunned and quiet crowd.
Woods was initially trying to hit something to 20-25 feet and leave with par, but that’s the thing about Pete Dye’s Stadium Course – you don’t have to be looking for trouble in order to find it.
“I was pretty ticked, no doubt about that,” Woods said. “I was bound and determined to get it all back and get it back to 5 (under), and I thought that would have been a hell of a fight.”
The two-time Players Championship winner got close, bouncing back with a pair of birdies and no bogeys on his back nine to shoot 1-under 71 in Round 2. He’s 3 under overall for the week and sure to make the cut, looking ahead to another early tee time Saturday morning.
That’s the other thing about the Stadium Course. Simply getting to the weekend is sometimes all it takes.
Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava, said he’d already forgotten about the quadruple bogey as he walked back to the clubhouse after a nearly five-hour round.
