Tiger Woods misses cut at US Open, but does he expect to win another major?
Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day also miss weekend action as Dustin Johnson masters Shinnecock Hills to take a four-shot lead
The US Open cut sliced off some huge names. Gone are Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day.
Headed home are Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer and Jon Rahm.
Throw in some other major tournament winners such as Keegan Bradley, Charl Schwartzel and Ernie Els.
Shinnecock Hills beat them all.
Woods, McIlroy, Spieth and Day had little chance of sticking around after first-round struggles. In his first US Open since 2015, Woods shot 78-72.
McIlroy was even worse on Thursday with an 80. He came in with an even-par 70, not nearly enough.
Spieth rallied from a first-round 78 with four straight birdies on his back nine, then bogeyed his final two holes to wind up at nine over – one shot outside the cut.
Day also didn’t get into the mix from the outset, shooting 79-73.
Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson handled the worst of the weather and wound up as the sole survivor to par, taking a four-shot lead into the weekend.
A gutsy birdie-birdie finish wasn’t enough to put Woods into the weekend, but the US superstar “absolutely” believes he will win another major title.
Woods rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at the eighth and a 17-footer at nine to complete a two-over par 72 for a 10-over total of 150.
“I’m not very happy the way I played and the way I putted,” said Woods, who had been eyeing a round in the 60s after his opening 78.
“I’m 10-over par. So I don’t know that you can be too happy and too excited about 10-over par.”
“Absolutely,” said Woods. “Have you seen the way I’ve been swinging?
Woods, 10 years removed from his most recent major victory at the 2008 US Open, has shown flashes of brilliance in his latest comeback season but has yet to bring together every aspect of his game in one week to achieve a victory.
He finished second at the Valspar Championship in March and tied for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He put on a ball-striking clinic at the Memorial two weeks ago, but after putting his name atop the leader board in the third round succumbed to putting woes to finish tied for 23rd.
“I’m hitting it just fine,” Woods said. “I just have not made any putts, and then, importantly, I haven’t made those key ones to keep the momentum going, or if I have any positive momentum, I miss a putt and derail it.”
Johnson was more than equal to all of it, his two-round total of four-under 136 putting him four ahead of Americans Charley Hoffman and Scott Piercy.
“Dustin was in complete control of what he was doing,” said his playing partner Woods.
Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
