Tiger knows lack of consistency has hurt chase

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Tiger Woods has missed the cut at the PGA Championship. It’s just his ninth missed cut in a major as a pro. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times | Tiger’s up-and-down Round 1 | Rethinking Tiger’s future | Tiger ‘welcomes’ playing in Olympics Expectations were high when Woods arrived on Long Island after his victory in last month’s Masters, but he made too many unforced errors on Thursday and struggled to find fairways Friday. He finished 36 holes at 5-over 145 (72-73). ROUND 2: TIGER HOLE-BY-HOLE No. 18 (par 4, 411 yards): Tiger hits his third fairway of the day but he misses the green on Bethpage Black’s short par-4 finishing hole. He gives a valiant effort on his chip but it runs by the hole and he will be going home. He makes the 5-foot par putt but it won’t be enough. He finishes 5 over and will miss the cut in a major for the ninth time as a pro. Fairway: Missed (3 of 14) Green: Missed (9 of 18) Putts: 1 (30) Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 17 (par 3, 207 yards): It’s going to come down to the last hole. Woods needs to birdie 18 to make the cut. He hit his tee shot on this 193-yard hole to 39 feet, then two-putted for par. He holed a 4-foot par putt to keep his weekend chances alive. Fairway: N/A Green: Hit (9 of 17) Putts: 29 Score: 3 (+3, +5 overall) No. 16 (par 4, 490 yards): Another par for Tiger, but that’s not what he needs right now. He’ll have to birdie one of the last two holes to make the cut. Tiger’s tee shot and approach both landed in the fringe. He two-putted from 25 feet for par.  Fairway: Missed (2 of 13) Green: Missed (8 of 16) Putts: 27 Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 15 (par 4, 484 yards): Tiger makes his first par since the eighth hole, but he needs another birdie to avoid a missed cut. He hit his second fairway of the day, then hit his 170-yard approach to 34 feet. He two-putted for par to keep his cut hopes alive. Fairway: Hit (2 of 12) Green: Hit (8 of 15) Putts: 2 (26) Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 14 (par 3, 161 yards): Tiger’s fourth three-putt of the week results in a bogey on the shortest hole on the course. A poor approach was the culprit. He hit it to 55 feet from just 160 yards. He’ll need to play the last four holes in 1 under to have a chance at the weekend. He hasn’t had a par since the eight hole, making four bogeys and two birdies in his last six holes. Fairway: N/A Green: Hit (7 of 14) Putts: 3 (24) Score: 4 (+3, +5 overall) No. 13 (par 5, 608 yards): A hard-earned birdie on the Black Course’s only par-5 on the back nine. He had to lay up after driving into a fairway bunker, but then hit his 160-yard approach to 9 feet. He’s sandwiched three bogeys between birdies on 9 and 13. Four over may be enough to make the cut but he can’t afford to drop another shot on the last five holes. Fairway: Missed (1 of 11) Green: Hit (6 of 13) Putts: 1 (21) Score: 4 (+2, +4 overall) No. 12 (par 4, 515 yards): Tiger was just inches from hitting his second fairway of the day. He hit the green from 213 yards, but three-putted for another bogey. It’s his third three-putt of the week. He needs some birdies coming in if he wants to be around for the weekend. Fairway: Missed (1 of 10) Green: Hit (5 of 12) Putts: 3 (20) Score: 5 (+3, +5 overall) No. 11 (par 4, 435 yards): Tiger is mixing things up a bit. He missed this fairway to the right. He’s still hit just one today. From 194 yards out, he tried to play a nifty shot from the rough, choking down on a fairway wood to punch it out of the rough. He squeezed his ball between the bunkers in front of the green, but it ran into the rough behind the green. A poor chip from there left Woods with a 12-foot par putt. He missed that to fall to 4 over for the first time this week. And now he’s on the wrong side of the cut line. Fairway: Missed (1 of 9) Green: Missed (4 of 11) Putts: 2 (17) Score: 5 (+2, +4 overall) No. 10 (par 4, 502 yards): Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Another miss to the left off the tee. This is becoming a theme. Just like Thursday, he has to lay up again on this long par-4. He wedges to 11 feet from 109 yards, but he misses the par putt. He’s back on the cut line with eight holes remaining.  Fairway: Miss (1 of 8) Green: Miss (4 of 10) Putts: 2 (15) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 9 (par 4, 460 yards): A strong finish to the front nine. Tiger hit the fairway and the green and rolled in his 40-foot birdie putt. That will provide a little breathing room on the back nine as Tiger hopes to stay inside the cut line. It looks like he’s playing for a cut with his tee shots but the ball just isn’t fading. That’s why all his misses have been left. His iron play has been solid when he’s had the opportunity to hit approaches from short stuff. Fairway: Hit (1 of 7) Green: Hit (4 of 9) Putts: 1 (13) Score: 3 (E, +2 overall) No. 8 (par 3, 210 yards): A straightforward par. And that’s a good thing at this point. Tiger hit his 201-yard tee shot to 22 feet, then two-putted for par. Fairway: N/A Green: Hit (3 of 8) Putts: 2 (12) Score: 3 (+1, +3 overall) No. 7 (par 4, 524 yards): Another fairway missed. This one was left, as well. He could only hack out on this brutish par-4. He hit a strong wedge shot to 6 feet but missed the putt for his second bogey of the day. Fairway: Missed (0 for 6) Green: Missed (2 for 7) Putts: 2 (10) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 6 (par 4, 408 yards): Left. Again. He still hasn’t hit a fairway, but he collects his first birdie of the day after hitting his 133-yard approach to 18 feet. He holed the putt from the fringe to get back to even par for the day. Fairway: Missed (0 for 5) Green: Missed (2 for 6) Putts: 0 (8) Score: 3 (E, +2 overall) No. 5 (par 4, 478 yards): Left again with the driver. He’s missed the first four fairways today. The rough is no place to be at Bethpage Black. He’s able to advance it into a greenside bunker. He blasted his ball to 9 feet and made the putt to stay on the correct side of the cut line. Fairway: Missed (0 for 4) Green: Missed (2 for 5) Putts: 1 (8) Score: 4 (+1, +3 overall) No. 4 (par 5, 517 yards): We’ll have to wait another hole for Tiger to hit his first fairway. He’s missed left both times he’s unsheathed the big stick today. That necessitates a lay-up. His spotty wedge play continued on the third shot, though, as he hit the 75-yarder to 25 feet. He two-putts for par and fails to take advantage of another hole that offers the rare birdie opportunity at Bethpage Black. Nos. 1, 2 and 4 are three of the four easiest holes on the course. He played them in 1 over. Tiger is now 13 shots behind Brooks. Fairway: Missed (0 for 3) Green: Hit (2 for 4) Putts: 2 (7) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 3 (par 3, 230 yards): Tiger gave himself a great birdie chance after lasering a long-iron to 11 feet on this 221-yard hole. Unfortunately, it’s the second consecutive day that he’s unable to convert on a strong tee shot on the course’s toughest par-3. He missed a 9-foot birdie putt here on Friday. Tiger had to work hard for par after racing the birdie putt by, but he holed his 4-foot par putt to avoid dropping another shot. Fairway: NA Green: Hit (1 for 3) Putts: 2 (5) Score: 3 (+1, +3 overall) No. 2 (par 4, 389 yards): The second hole is the shortest par-4 at Bethpage Black but Tiger missed the fairway with an iron off the tee. He could only hack out, leaving himself a 90-yard wedge shot for his third. That shot spun back, some 20 feet short of the hole. Bethpage’s first two holes are the second- and fourth-easiest on the course, but Tiger has played them in 1 over. Another Brooks birdie means Tiger is now 12 back and, more importantly, on the cut line. Fairway: Missed (0 for 2) Green: Missed (0 for 2) Putts: 2 (3) Score: 5 (+1, +3 overall) No. 1 (par 4, 430 yards): A sloppy start. Tiger missed both the fairway and the green on Bethpage’s opening hole, but he salvaged par with a strong sand shot. He pulled his opening tee shot into the fans, which was a thrill for the New Yorkers but a headache for security. It took several minutes for the rowdy gallery members to clear out and give Tiger enough room to gouge his ball out of the thick stuff. He bounced that shot into the bunker, but he left himself plenty of green to work with. He finished it off with a 4-foot birdie putt. Brooks made an easy birdie, though, and Tiger is now 10 back. Fairway: Missed (0 for 1) Green: Missed (0 for 1) Putts: 1 (1) Score: 4 (E, +2 overall)

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A week ago, U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker asked Phil Mickelson to show him something. To make a positive statement with his golf game. Stricker wasn’t entirely comfortable with the request. After all, Mickelson has played for his country more times in team competition than any other golfer. Oh, and he’s also won five majors and 42 PGA TOUR events, and already has a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame. But when Mickelson – who has played in every Presidents Cup since its inception in 1994, as well as every Ryder Cup since 1995 — told Stricker he really wanted to make this year’s U.S. team, the captain had no choice but to respond the way he did. Mickelson was 17th on the points list in which just the top 10 automatically qualify. There was work to be done. “I told him I would like to see him play well here on out, to show me something basically,â€� Stricker said. “That doesn’t sound right coming from a guy like me talking to Phil. ‘Hey, show me something.’ That doesn’t sound right. That’s basically what I said. “Show me that you are playing good at the end of the year.â€� Unfortunately for Mickelson, he showed nothing this week in his brief stay at the PGA Championship. He followed Thursday’s 8-over 79 with a 3-over 74 that left him at 11 over. The 153 strokes he needed to complete two rounds is the second-highest total in the 13 major cuts he’s missed in his career. He shot 79-76—155 in the 1999 Open Championship. The good news (if you can call it that) was he made three birdies Friday after failing to make a birdie the previous day. The bad news is he missed the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time since 1995. The worst news is that at a key time of the season, with his U.S. team streak on the line, Mickelson is at a loss for answers. And has lost his focus. “It’s not like I’m hitting the ball crooked,â€� a glum Mickelson said outside the Quail Hollow clubhouse Friday. “I’m just hitting it in the wrong spots. Not really controlling my thought process, where I want the ball to go. “I’m not real focused out there. I’m having a tough time visualizing the shot. I’m having a tough time controlling my thoughts and not letting it wonder to what I don’t want to have happen.â€� That’s not exactly what Stricker wants to hear. Unaware of when Mickelson played on Friday, Stricker was told of the missed cut. “He’s got a couple of events, probably in the FedExCup Playoffs,â€� Stricker said. “That’s all we’re going to have before we make the pick. Hopefully he can get hot in there.â€� Mickelson’s next start with be the FedExCup opener, THE NORTHERN TRUST, which starts Aug. 25 at Glen Oaks. Although Mickelson will likely drop from his current spot of 45th in FedexCup points, he’s guaranteed to advance to the second FedExCup event, the 100-man field at the Dell Technologies Championship. The top 10 players in Presidents Cup points after TPC Boston will earn guaranteed spots. Two days later, Stricker will announce his two captain’s picks. That means Mickelson has two events to climb inside the top 10. Otherwise, his fate – and that string of 23 consecutive years of representing the U.S. – will be left in the hands of others. “If I can play well in those, I have a chance to get on the team on my own,â€� said Mickelson, who won at TPC Boston in the inaugural FedExCup year of 2007. “If I play well in them and don’t make it, I have a chance to be a pick. “But I’ve got to play well in them is the thing.â€� Two years ago, Mickelson needed a captain’s pick from Jay Haas to make the U.S. team. At that time, Mickelson was 30th in Presidents Cup points and had not been particularly impressive in those first two FedExCup events. But he did have a couple of top-20 finishes in the last two majors that year … unlike this year, when he’s missed the cut at The Open and the PGA. It was the first time Mickelson had needed a captain’s pick since 1994, but Haas and his assistants recognized the value of Mickelson’s intangibles, as well as his experience. Mickelson rewarded them by going 3-0-1 and handily beating Charl Schwartzel 5 & 4 in singles to help the Americans retain the Cup. Stricker is well aware of those intangibles. While he has the final decision on the captain’s picks, he plans to have buy-in from his assistants as well as the 10 players who automatically qualify. If Mickelson is not one of those 10, then he must rely on support in the team room. “We need the best guys playing the best at the end of the year going forward,â€� Stricker said. “That’s what we’re going to be looking at. … “I think it’s important to get the whole team vested in those other two players that we’re going to pick.â€� The decisions won’t be easy. Stricker said he’s keeping a close eye on anybody inside the top 20 in Presidents Cup points, and even players beyond that. He specifically mentioned Zach Johnson, who is currently 28th and has played well in his last three starts – including a second-place finish at last week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Johnson was creeping up the leaderboard Friday afternoon when play was suspended due to weather. “If he can have another good solid run here through the rest of the year, he’s a guy I’m looking at too,â€� Stricker said of Johnson, a four-time Presidents Cup team member – and Mickelson’s partner two years ago in Korea. “Anybody, if they can get hot, we’re all going to give a good look to.â€� Mickelson is not hot. But he will spend next week seeking to regain his focus. “I don’t feel like I did two years ago where I’m searching for my game or I’m trying to find it or trying to strike it well,â€� Mickelson said. “I have great practice sessions. Drove it fine. Just not real focused when I’m out there.â€� So, Mickelson was asked, how does he work on something mental like that? “That’s a good question,â€� he said. “I’ll have to figure it out.â€� Hopefully it’s soon. He’s running out of time.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Webb Simpson had just shot 64 and was packing his things in the parking lot when he and his caddie, Paul Tesori, were asked how TPC Southwind was playing. “Harder,” Simpson said. “Really windy,” Tesori added. Indeed, Sunday put the wind in Southwind. That wind, plus a slow-play warning, brought chaos to the conclusion of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Harris English, who had looked in control after taking a two-shot lead into the back nine, hit tee shots into the water at the par-3 11th and 14th holes, double-bogeyed both, and suddenly there was a five-way tie at the top. He had one last gasp to save the tournament, but after dropping one more shot on 16 failed to birdie the 18th hole and walked away with a 3-over 73, one shot out of a playoff. “Yeah, we were warned on the front nine (to pick up the pace),” said English, who was trying to become the first three-time PGA TOUR winner this season (Sentry Tournament of Champions, Travelers Championship) and came into the week fifth in the FedExCup. “Kind of got behind, felt like we were running pretty much the whole round and never really caught up.” The final twosome was first warned on the fifth hole, English said. Bryson DeChambeau needing a ruling at the sixth didn’t help, and poor play by both players set them back even further. A left-to-right wind exacerbated anything that leaked right on 14, and a rushed English took his hand off the club as his tee shot never came close to finding land. It was the killing shot, allowing a handful of players back into the tournament and knocking English for a loop. “You definitely start the day in one rhythm and then you kind of get out of that having to walk faster, having to do everything a little faster because you don’t want to get a bad time,” he said. “It was tough, the wind was swirling obviously coming down the stretch, there was some very important shots in there and it was tough. But I’ve got to learn to slow down, go through my routine and not really worry about being put on the clock.” He missed a birdie try from just over 12 1/2 feet on 18. English was vying to surpass Collin Morikawa at FedExCup No. 1, and to be the third wire-to-wire to winner in this event after Tiger Woods (2000) and Stewart Cink (’04), both of whom accomplished the feat at Firestone South. Now he’ll move forward knowing that 63 really good holes were wiped out by a back-nine 40. “It’s just tough to rush like that,” he said. “We were getting warned on the front nine and it’s tough to catch up. I made double on 11, Bryson made triple, and you can’t catch up doing that. From 12 on I felt like we were running. “And it’s tough out there,” he continued. “The wind’s picking up. Obviously, there’s some really good pins out here. You’re trying to win a championship and it’s hard. I don’t really like speeding up like that or feeling like I’m rushed, but I’ve got to get better at that.”

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