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After two rounds of golf at the Genesis Invitational in Southern California, Tiger Woods has just about made it through to the weekend after a disappointing second round. Woods, who is making his golf comeback after nearly nine months away, shot a second-round score of 74 (three over par) to leave him on +1 for the week.
Fortunately for the 15-time major champion, the cut line is also +1 meaning he will get to play two further rounds as he looks to rebuild his fitness ahead of the Masters in April.
Woods enjoyed a solid opening round of 69 on Thursday and was on course for a second-round score of 71 until his game fell apart somewhat over the final four holes on Friday. Three bogies across 15,16, 17, and 18 left him sweating on his place for the weekend but the cut stayed at +1.
Woods in the spotlight
Disappointingly, the focus hasn’t solely been on Woods’ game this week after he was involved in a controversial moment with Justin Thomas and a tampon. Woods appeared to hand his playing partner a tampon after he outdrove him on Thursday, sparking criticism from all corners of the sporting world.
After his round on Friday, the 47-year-old apologized for any offence that he had caused, saying that “it was all supposed to be fun and game but obviously it hasn’t turned out that way”. He added:
“It was not intended to be that way. We play pranks on one another all the time and virally I think this did not come across that way, but between us it was, it’s different. If I offended anybody in any way, shape, or form, I’m sorry.”
Tiger Woods had a gift for Justin Thomas after driving it past him on number nine.
(via @GettyImages) pic.twitter.com/HXZEQSAhEU
— Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood) February 17, 2023
Speaking about how he felt he had performed, golf-wise, across the opening two days at the Riviera Golf Course, Woods was most disappointed with his short game. He told reporters:
“I did not putt well today. I blocked a lot of putts early, and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today. I probably should have shot probably five or six better than this, easily. I just didn’t make the putts early and in the middle part of the round when I had those opportunities.”
Homa leads at the halfway stage
At the other end of the leaderboard, American Max Homa leads the way on ten-under-par for the week. The 32-year-old has already tasted success this year after winning the Farmers Insurance Open last month and will fancy his chances over the weekend.
Just behind him are three players on -9, including Jon Rahm. The Spaniard is arguably the most in-form player in golf at the moment after already winning two events this year and is pushing for the top spot in the world rankings.
The current world number one, Scottie Scheffler, is tied for 12th on -4 for the week while Rory Mcilroy, who can go back to being the number one player in the world with a win this week, is nicely positioned on -6.
The Northern Irishman has looked more like his usual self this week after a disappointing performance last time out at the Phoenix Open.
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