This is not how Tiger Woods wanted to come back to the US Open.
After missing the last two years with back and personal issues, Woods returned for the Masters this year and now is playing in Shinnecock.
Healthy, you figured he would make some sort of noise.
Unfortunately, that sound was a thud, as Woods finished the second day 10-over par and probably on the other side of the cut list.
“I don’t think you can be too happy and too excited about 10-over par,” Woods said. “I finally made a putt — or two. I gave myself some good looks, but I hadn’t made anything the last couple days. Consequently, I put myself behind the 8-ball early on.”
The 42 year-old hasn’t won a major since 2008 and a PGA tournament since 2013. He was looking to make a major comeback at Shinnecock, playing into Sunday and making some noise.
““They’re the hardest fields and these are the hardest setups,” he said of the majors. “They’re meant to be testers. You don’t win a major championship by slapping it around all over the place and not making putts. You have to be on.”
Much like Dustin Johnson, who was in Woods trio. The 2016 winner was fantastic today, with a 3-under-67 to be 4-under after two days and has a commanding lead heading into Saturday.
“Starting out even, you know, through our first seven or eight holes, it was — you know, it was pretty breezy and overcast. So it felt like the course was playing — you know, was playing really difficult,” Johnson said. “But got off to a nice start. Hit some really good shots early in the round, and then the little bit of rain came in, got a little cooler, and the golf ball wasn’t going very far. You know, the course played very tough. I think we played six or seven holes in it. It was playing really difficult. But, you know, kind of hung in there and made some good saves for sure.
“And I kind of kept the round going, and then, obviously, it cleared up for the last five or six holes, and it was nice.”
You can say that when you are 4-under and in the lead. Everything is sunny for Johnson these days.
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