Tiger Woods is struggling in his first event since the PGA Championship back in August of 2014. The 39-year-old is sitting in last place during the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Barring an unprecedented surge to get himself back to even, it appears as if Woods is going to miss his 13th career cut. He's currently 10 over through his first 13 holes on Friday and 12 over for the tournament as he sits at the bottom of the leaderboard. He gave himself a chance after shooting a 73 in the first round on Thursday, but now he's looking at an insurmountable uphill battle.
After his round yesterday, Woods told reporters he is between swing patterns with his old coach, Sean Foley, and his new "consultant," Chris Como. Woods and Foley parted ways during the summer and it took months before he named Como his swing consultant in November. He also took a hiatus from golf for a few months to get back in shape and focus on his physical health.
"This is my second tournament in six months, so I just need tournament rounds like this where I can fight through it, turn it around, grind through it and make adjustments on the fly," Woods said on Thursday, via Bob Harig of ESPN. "[Caddie] Joey [LaCava] was on me all day today. He said, 'Don't worry about getting your numbers [distances] perfect, because it's not going to be that way yet. You're still working through it.'"
Woods is expected to miss the cut at this event as he continues to struggle mightily in the second round. He missed two cuts last year - the Quicken Loans National and the PGA Championship - and both could be attributed to his back issues after undergoing surgery to repair a pinched nerve last March. His return was believed to be premature, which likely affected his performance at the Quicken Loans event.
At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Ryan Palmer and Justin Thomas (-8) are tied for first with Bubba Watson (-7) and Keegan Bradley (-6) right behind them.
The Farmers Insurance Open will take place from February 5-8, so we'll see if Woods decides to play in that.
UPDATE: Tigers Woods shot a career-worst 82 on Friday and missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
