Woods misses cut at the Open

For the first time in his career, Tiger Woods’ final round at the British Open didn’t necessitate wearing the famous red shirt.

One of Woods’ trademarks is the donning of red tops in the fourth round of a tournament. But Woods will not have to wait that long at Turnberry in Scotland because he has missed the cut.

Instead, it was black attire that ended the show for the American. It is only the second time as a professional that he has failed to survive the weekend in a major tournament. The previous one was at the 2006 US Open, only weeks after his father had passed away.

Before that, it was the 1996 US Masters, when he was still an amateur.

While in the first two majors of the year, the US Masters and US Open, Woods could at least say he showed some fire, this was not the case at the 2009 Open.

Scores of 71 and 74 meant the world number one finished tied for 74 on five-over 145, one stroke off the half-way cut. Meanwhile, Tom Watson – who won the 1977 Open at Turnberry after a famous duel with Jack Nicklaus – and Steve Marino led after two rounds on five-under 135.

Birdies at 16 and 17 raised hopes that Woods would be able to sneak into the weekend fray but it was not to be.

It is not that Woods has forgotten how to win since coming back from an eight-month lay-off for knee surgery.

He has done that three times so far this season on the US PGA Tour, most recently at the Memorial Tournament. The question is: has he forgotten how to win in majors, of which he has 14? Woods was emphatic in his answer, as he said:

“I know how to win majors: you have to play clean. I just couldn’t do that here. I just hit some bad shots and I couldn’t get it back. It was just problem after problem out there.”

Woods’ final chance for a major title this season is at the US PGA Championship next month.


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