Woods Cuts It Close With 77

After rolling in a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that kept him around for the weekend, Tiger Woods shot a glance to his caddie, Steve Williams, and broke into a quick smile. Williams grabbed Woods’ putter, pretended to break it over his leg, and tossed it to the ground in mock disgust.

Somehow, they cheated the fates. Somehow, Woods survived his 81st official cut in a row despite a round that had the gallery scattering like pigeons as he fought to keep his ball on a straight line.

Woods’ five-over-par 77 Friday on the South Course at Torrey Pines--his worst score in three years--opened the door for a gaggle of old-timers and journeymen to find center stage at the Buick Invitational.

J.L. Lewis, 41, a bear of a man who lives in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, and little-known Kent Jones, 35, of Albuquerque shot five-under 67s on the South Course for totals of nine-under 135 and a one-shot lead over Mark O’Meara (69), Jay Haas (68) and Rory Sabbatini (66).

A week after making the cut at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by only one shot, Woods needed another late push to post a two-day, one-under 143 total, which is where the cut line fell.

Woods dropped to even par for the tournament when he made a double bogey on 17, leaving his chip shot in the rough, then failing to get up and down. But he patched together a birdie on the 551-yard, par-five finishing hole, laying up from the right rough and nestling a sand wedge tight for a closing birdie.

After signing his scorecard, Woods didn’t speak to reporters, but his playing partner and friend, John Cook, talked about Woods barely keeping alive his streak of made cuts, which trails only Byron Nelson (113), Jack Nicklaus (105) and Hale Irwin (86).

“It just shows that the greatest can struggle at times, the greatest that maybe we’ve ever seen,” said Cook, who shot a one-under 71 to stand six shots off the lead. “That’s what makes him. He has bad weeks and he’s still in contention and he’s still trying to play well. Even the greatest can have a run of bad luck sometimes.”

While Woods was posting his largest number since a six-over 78 at the 1999 AT&T;, the tour’s grayer set was making a case for itself. O’Meara, 45, sometimes seen as an avuncular sidekick to Woods, is trying to turn back the clock and find victory for the first time since 1998, when he tore through two majors with a steady game and a putting stroke that was the envy of the tour.

Friday, he was at it again, swinging his sticks crisply, spinning the clubs in his hands when he was through.

“The only advantage I have is that I don’t have a lot to lose,” O’Meara said. “There’s not a lot of pressure on me. If anything, my career is tapering off and going the other direction. The game is very humbling. It challenges a player’s mind. It challenges a player’s physical well-being. I know I have to go out and play really well on the weekend and hopefully, I can do that.”

O’Meara had a chance to share the lead going into today’s third round, but he missed a three-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole of the North Course--his final hole of the day--when his attempt slid by the right side.

The miss bugged O’Meara, but he calmly tapped in for his par, walked to the scorer’s tent and started to prepare himself for a weekend of navigating the beastly South Course, which continues to body slam the field (it played four strokes harder than the North on Friday).

“Let’s face it,” O’Meara said. “There aren’t a lot of 47-, 48- and 49-year-old guys that dominate the PGA Tour.”