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 There was a lot of work to do.
Unfortunately for Woods, it's probably too late to do anything about another major championship slipping away.
Woods plodded through an even-par 70 at Oak Hill when there were 60s all over the place, leaving him a daunting 10 shots behind leader Jason Dufner heading to the weekend of the PGA Championship.
Making the task even more difficult, there were 37 players between Dufner, who was at 9-under 131, and Woods.
"Just the way it goes," Woods said. "Obviously, I need to hit it better than I have."
He has yet to break par through two days on a course that was ripe for the taking, the greens softened by plenty of rain and receptive to iron shots from the world's best players.
Woods is certainly one of those -- maybe the best ever -- but he simply can't find the magic that once made him such an intimidating figure in the Grand Slam events.
He has been stuck on 14 major titles since his victory at the 2008 U.S. Open, and it looks as if he'll go through a fifth straight year without winning one of them -- by far the longest drought of his career.
Even in a year when Woods has five victories on the PGA Tour, three more than anyone else, he can't put it together in the events that really matter. In 14 rounds at the major championships, he has shot in the 60s only once.
Woods bogeyed the second hole, but looked as if he might be poised for one those Tiger-like runs when he made back-to-back birdies starting at No. 5.
But, in what is becoming a familiar refrain, he couldn't keep it going.
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At the par-3 11th, he dumped his tee shot into the rough in front of the green, leading to a bogey. At the 12th, he didn't even bother looking when a poor approach shot caught the right edge of the green with the flag flapping on the left, ruining any shot at a birdie. At the 14th, he drove the green on the 323-yard par-4, only to three-putt.
"I made my share and missed my share," he said. "Just the way it goes."
Woods birdied the 15th, gave it back with a bogey on 16. He caught a break at the 17th when a 15-foot birdie try rolled all the way around the back of the cup before dropping in, causing Woods' knees to buckle. He let out a deep sigh as he walked off the green, only to push his next shot into the thick rough right of the 18th fairway, ruining any shot at having some momentum going into Saturday.
There was little choice except to pitch out onto the fairway. Woods knocked it on the green from there, but didn't get it close. Two putts from 25 feet left him with a bogey and 1 over for the tournament.
Afterward, Woods headed to the practice range to work with coach Sean Foley, getting in some extra swings just before sundown.
"Obviously I'm going to have to put together a really good weekend," Woods said. "This golf course is pretty soft. It's definitely gettable. I've got to hit the ball in play and keep the ball near the hole so I can be aggressive with my putts."
Maybe he figured out what went wrong.
Hey, there's always next year.
[Associated
Press; By PAUL NEWBERRY]
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