Tiger Woods: ‘It may or may not be’ his last U.S. Open after missing cut

Tiger Woods finished at 7-over for the week in North Carolina, which was well outside the cut line

He had plenty of chances, but Tiger Woods’ latest major championship appearance has once again been cut short.

Woods posted a 3-over 73 on Friday at the U.S. Open, which dropped him to 7-over on the week. That was several shots outside the projected cut line at Pinehurst No. 2.

Woods has now either missed the cut or withdrawn from six of the last eight major championships. He hasn’t made the cut at the U.S. Open since 2019 — which was his only made cut at the event in the past decade. Though he’s battled seemingly countless injuries and off-course issues in recent years, and he looked better on Friday physically despite the hot afternoon in North Carolina, Woods just can’t seem to find a way to consistently play into the weekend anymore.

“It was probably the highest score I could have possibly shot today,” Woods said. “I hit a lot of good shots that just didn’t go my way, or I hit good putts, and then I put myself in a couple bad spots with some bad lag putts.”

Woods’ round on Friday wasn’t horrible, especially early on, but he didn’t do nearly enough to make up for his start on Thursday. Woods carded a 4-over 74 while making six bogeys to open the tournament while frequently leaving himself out of position. At one point, he made five bogeys during a seven-hole stretch.

“It can go so far the other way here, the wrong way,” Woods said Thursday. “It’s just so hard to get back. This is a golf course that doesn’t give up a whole lot of birdies. It gives up a lot of bogeys and higher.”

After opening with a birdie in his first four holes, Woods just narrowly missed several great birdie looks down the stretch on Friday that, while they wouldn’t have vaulted him into contention, could have saved him. He pushed a birdie putt at the 13th, and then had a great birdie opportunity lip-out on him at the 15th — which left him looking incredibly defeated after taking a step toward the cup early.

From there, Woods kind of fell apart. His drive at the 16th landed well left in the trees, which sent him scrambling to recover. He missed a 12-footer for par there, too, which forced him to settle for his fourth bogey of the day. That dropped him to 7-over, which sealed the deal and ended Woods’ week.

Woods confirmed after his round that he’ll play in the British Open next month. After that, though, he’ll “come back whenever I come back.”

“In order to win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut. I can’t win the tournament from where I’m at, so it certainly is frustrating,” Woods said. “I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out.

“As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be.”

Other notables who missed the cut

Former top-ranked golfer Dustin Johnson struggled again. He finished at 9-over, thanks in part to a rough opening nine on Friday that included four bogeys and a triple.

Justin Thomas missed the cut, too. He opened the week with a 7-over 77, though he managed just seven pars in a first round that was all over the place. He finished at 11-over. While he finished T8 at the PGA Championship last month, that run was largely an outlier. Thomas has missed the cut at five of the last seven majors.

Phil Mickelson played a little better on Friday, but it still wasn’t enough to make up for his rough start to the week. Mickelson carded a 9-over 79 on Thursday, and then finished the week at 15-over. Only a handful of golfers finished worse than he did on the leaderboard. Mickelson has now missed the cut at four of the last five major championships. His lone finish came at the Masters earlier this year, though he went T43.

Other notable names that missed the cut include Max Homa, Viktor Hovland, Mackenzie Hughes, Ben An, Will Zalatoris, and Rickie Fowler.