Tiger Woods took a big step back during Friday’s second round and won’t play in the final two rounds of the PGA Championship.There will be no reprise of his 2000 heroics at Valhalla Golf Club, as Tiger Woods missed the cut of the PGA Championship on Friday.Woods was play in his first event since the Masters last month, where he made the cut but finished in last place at 16-over 304, which included a third-round 82.Like Augusta National, Valhalla, in Louisville, Ky., holds good memories for Woods. He outdueled Bob May in the final round of the 2000 event to win the third leg of his famed “Tiger Slam.”After a first-round 72 left him 10 shots out of the lead, Woods needed a solid day to make the cut and play the weekend.He shot a 77 and when he left the course he was eight shots below the projected cut line of 1-under par. Play was suspended late Friday with a handful of players left on the course and no probable path for Woods to make the cut.Woods was in trouble from the start. After a par on the first hole, he went 7-over on the next three holes. He triple-bogeyed No. 2 after he hit his second shot fat into a greenside bunker and then sailed his third shot out of that bunker and into the bunker on the opposite side of the green.His bogey on the par-3 third hole was a three-putt after his tee shot landed nearly 70 feet from the cup.On the fourth, a 359-yard par-4, Woods once again got in trouble close to the hole. His approach fell short and into the intermediate rough. He hit that shot fat and into the bunker, and then failed to get his first attempt out of the bunker. Once he was out, he two-putted for the triple bogey.Woods recovered for birdies at Nos. 7 and 8, but at that point making the cut was out of the question.On the back nine he went 1-over, with bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 and a birdie on No. 18. He finished at 7-over for the first 36 holes.The 15-time major champion and four-time PGA Championship winner was seeking to at least make this weekend’s play. Since his Masters win in 2019, he has missed the cut or withdrawn in seven of his last 12 starts. He didn’t play in all of 2021 due to a car accident that left him with significant injuries.Woods, who has had several back surgeries and missed most last season due to ankle surgery, had played in just two events before the PGA. He started the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Golf Club in Los Angeles in February, but he withdrew during the second round due to an illness.After that, he only played on competitive round before returning to the Masters, a member-guest at the Seminole Club in Florida. Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers a variety of sports for Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
