May 17, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Tiger Woods drives off the 8th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Matt Stone-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
(Reuters) - A disastrous six-over-par 77 in the second round of the PGA Championship saw 15-times major winner Tiger Woods miles from the projected cut line in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, in his first tournament since the Masters.
Woods enjoyed a Masters milestone last month with his 24th consecutive made cut at the major but was seven over par through 36 holes at Valhalla Golf Club with the projected cut at -1 when play was suspended due to darkness on Friday.
It was the latest setback for the former world number one, who has kept a limited competition schedule after a horrific 2021 car crash and struggled to shake off the rust.
"I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven't played a whole lot of tournaments, and not a whole lot of tournaments on my schedule either," said Woods. "Hopefully everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for (the U.S. Open at) Pinehurst."
His second round turned disastrous almost immediately, as he had a triple bogey on the second and fourth holes and a bogey on three.
Any momentum he might have salvaged from birdies on the seventh and eighth holes evaporated after a pair of flubbed putts led to bogeys on the 11th and 12th, though he ended the day on a sweeter note, with a birdie on the par-five 18.
"I got off to bad start and the rough grabbed me at two," Woods told reporters.
"Just kept making mistakes and things you can't do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. And I just kept making them. I hung around for most of the day but unfortunately the damage was done early."
The tournament had its upsides for Woods, who said he was able to play more comfortably than he had before.
"Physically, yes, I am better than I was a month ago," he said. "I still have more ways to go, lots of improvement to go physically, and hopefully my team and I can get that done pre-Pinehurst and going into it."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by William Mallard)
