Tiger Woods misses secondary cut at Torrey Pines with third-round 79

The couple of hundred fans who made the 20-minute, early-morning hike out to the 10th tee to witness a third-round charge by Tiger Woods in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines instead watched him trip out of the gate and stagger to the finish. Woods finished with a seven-over-par 79, one of his worse scores as a pro, and did not make the second cut to play Sunday.

Wearing gray slacks, a black shirt, black cap and a frown, Woods bogeyed his first hole, a par four, after missing the fairway off the tee, a chronic problem for him in his first tournament of the year. He has managed to hit less than 43% of the fairways off the tee in three rounds.

The world’s No. 1 player did make three birdies in his first eight holes, but double bogeys on his ninth hole, No. 18, after hitting his second shot into the pond in front of the par-five green, and on the next hole after missing yet another green, assured he would not win at this course for a ninth time.

It didn’t get better. He bogeyed the next five holes. A stretch of seven holes played in an astonishing nine over par. His game Saturday seemed better suited to the amateur tournament being played Saturday on the adjacent North Course.

The gallery continued to follow Woods throughout, but the field -- virtually all of it -- stayed well ahead. He began the day nine shots behind second-round leader Jordan Spieth and tied for 50th place. His seven-over-par 79 was two shots higher than his previous worst score at a course he usually owns and only the fifth time he’s had a score that high as a pro. Had he not managed a birdie on his 16th hole, he might have challenged his worst score ever as a professional -- an 81 in driving rain in the third round of the 2002 British Open.

Woods finished ahead of only one player and missed the 54-hole cut. A second cut after the usual second-round cut goes into effect if more than 78 players reach the third round.

Phil Mickelson, with a fan base here nearly as big as Woods’ and a three-time winner of the event, withdrew before his third round because of a bad back.

Gary Woodland is leading the tournament at eight under.