Woods Steals Spotlight Just by Making the Cut

And you thought there was nothing more exciting than watching Tiger Woods on the Sunday back nine, trying to win a major ...

How about Woods on the Friday back nine of a major, trying to make the weekend?

The second day of the 86th PGA Championship here at Whistling Straits was packed with drama but for weird reasons.

Lost in the white-knuckle emotions of Woods’ surviving the 36-hole threshold and extending his miraculous streak of cuts made to 129 overall and 32 in major tournaments dating to the 1997 Masters, was a little something called ... the golf tournament.

Here’s what happened while eyes fixed on Woods as he fist-pumped his way past the cut line with dramatic birdies on the par-five 16th hole and par-three 17th.

Vijay Singh, a relatively silent partner in Woods’ playing group, quietly posted a four-under-par 68 to claim a share of the 36-hole lead at nine-under 135.

Who is Singh, really, other than a two-time major champion and this year’s leading money winner on tour?

For what it’s worth, Singh also made the cut and shares the halfway lead with Justin Leonard, who followed his opening 66 with a three-under 69.

Three players -- Briny Baird, Ernie Els and Darren Clarke -- are one shot back at eight-under 136; Chris DiMarco is three shots off the lead at 138, and four players are four shots behind at 139.

Still in touch with the leader board is Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who shot even-par 72 and stands at three-under 141.

Woods shot a 69 on Friday and stands at even-par 144 and tied for 44th. And now that he has escaped the cut line, it is conceivable he could make a dramatic weekend charge.

Such is Woods’ star power that he can still overwhelm events in the throes of relative -- for him -- mediocrity and overshadow the exploits of men who actually have a chance to win this tournament.

Boy, though, Woods did make things exciting. With the projected cut line at one over, Woods stood at three over on the 13th hole and responded by making birdies on three of his final six holes, making the cut with a stroke to spare.

Was he worried?

You bet.

“I was thinking about it a little bit because I wasn’t playing well,” he said.

He also said that making the cut every week was more important to him than being the world’s No. 1 ranked player because it proved he came to play, week in and out, whether in fine form or not.

“I think that the one thing I’m most proud of is that I’ve never bagged it,” he said. “I’ve never dogged it. I’ve tried hard from the first hole all the way to the 18th when I finish out.”

Singh was less interested in rehashing Woods’ surge, although -- rest assured -- he was asked about it.

“I don’t know,” said Singh, the 1998 PGA champion. “I was focused on my game, I’m sorry.”

Among the more interesting names sandwiched among the leaders is Baird, who shot a 69.

Baird, a 32-year-old Floridian, perfectly fits the bill of nobody players (think Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem and David Toms) who typically make a play for the PGA Championship.

Baird, for example, joined the PGA Tour in 1999 but has yet to win a tournament.

He boasts a funny name and a funky putting stance.

You can say with confidence that Baird is not on Hal Sutton’s short list for the Ryder Cup team.

Statistical line on Baird’s last six tournaments before this week: cut, cut, tied for 46th, tied for 40th, cut, cut -- not exactly a player that exudes confidence.

“I can’t come in thinking I’ve got a greater shot at winning this golf tournament than I do,” he said. “Because the fact of the matter is, Ernie has a better chance of winning this golf tournament than I do, or Tiger or Vijay, those guys, just because they have done it.”

Baird has memories of being in contention at the PGA and they aren’t particularly good.

He stood in fifth place last year at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., only to shoot a final-round 81 and finish tied for 39th.

Baird said of that day, “I’m not saying you throw in the towel, but sometimes it’s just really, really hard to concentrate when things are not going your way.”

Not to be ignored were the foibles of Phil (Mickelson), who has finished first, second and third in the first three majors this year and may be primed to finish fourth here.

Mickelson began the day four shots off the lead and raced to six-under with a 33 on the front nine. He got to within two shots of the leader, Baird at that point, when his putter sputtered.

In one four-hole stretch on his back nine, Mickelson went on a four-over-par bender, making a double bogey at the par-five fifth hole and bogeys on holes 7 and 8.

He rallied with a birdie on his final hole, the ninth, and finished even for the day, but knew he had squandered a chance.

Finishing his round about the time the leaders were going off, Mickelson could only hope the field would not run away from him.

Luckily for him, they did not.

Mickelson said he was banking on the course playing tougher than it has through two rounds and urged officials not to tinker with Whistling Straits to make it play easier over the weekend.

“I just want it to be more difficult,” he said of the course. “I want it to be harder. I studied and practiced from areas, assuming that it would play hard. Right now, you can attack a lot of pins.”

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Close Calls

A look at the 14 tournaments that Tiger Woods nearly missed the cut during his record streak that reached 129 consecutive PGA Tour events Friday at the PGA Championship:

* 1999 Buick Invitational -- Woods had double bogeys on Nos. 10 and 14 but made the cut by two strokes. He closed with 62-65 on the weekend to win by two shots.

* 1999 Bay Hill Invitational -- Woods shot 72 on Friday for a two-over 146, which left him almost certain to miss the cut. But Matt Kuchar played as an amateur and was at 142. The cut is for the top 70 and ties among “professionals,” so everyone at 146 made the cut. Woods tied for 56th, his worst finish during the streak.

* 2000 Buick Invitational -- Woods was at even par at Torrey Pines, two below the cut line, until he made five birdies and one great par save on the back nine for a 68. He was tied for the lead Sunday and wound up four strokes back, tied for second.

* 2000 Canadian Open -- Woods was only one shot better than the cut with four holes to play when he finished birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle. That gave him a 65, and he went on to win by one stroke.

* 2001 U.S. Open -- Woods had a 74 and a 71, and at one point was 11 strokes behind Retief Goosen. The U.S. Open cut is top 60 and everyone within 10 shots of the lead. He finished eight back to make the cut, then had two 69s to tie for 12th.

* 2001 Buick Classic -- Woods played 35 holes Friday because of a rain delay. He opened with a 75 but pulled it together in the afternoon with a 66, securing his weekend status with a birdie on his 16th hole. He had a 68-71 on the weekend and tied for 16th.

* 2001 PGA Championship -- Woods was two off the projected cut when he holed a 40-foot birdie putt from off the 15th green, then a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 16. He wound up making the cut by one, had a 69-70 on the weekend and tied for 29th.

* 2002 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -- Woods was one stroke better than the cut and facing a 15-foot par putt on No. 12. He made his par, added an insurance birdie on No. 16 to make it by two shots. He had 71-68 on the weekend to tie for 12th.

* 2002 Buick Invitational -- Coming off double bogey on No. 17, Woods needed a birdie on the final hole to make the cut. He holed a 6-footer for birdie to make it on the number, then closed with rounds of 69-65 to tie for fifth.

* 2003 Masters -- Woods was on the cut line at five over when he birdied his 16th hole, No. 7. He three-putted for bogey on the next hole, then scrambled home at five over to make the cut.

* 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship -- Already two over the projected cut, Woods bogeyed No. 16 (his seventh hole) to fall three over. He responded with six birdies on his next nine holes and shot 69 to easily make the cut.

* 2004 Players Championship -- Woods started the second round in 108th place but ended the suspense early with a birdie-eagle start. He shot 69 and made the cut by two shots.

* 2004 Western Open -- Woods fell two strokes below the projected cutline after a double bogey and a bogey on his 12th and 13th holes. But he bailed himself out with back-to-back birdies. Woods saved par on his last hole to stay at one over, and made the cut by a shot. He wound up tied for seventh.

* 2004 PGA Championship -- Woods opened with a 75, birdied the first two holes Friday, then made back-to-back bogeys and was two shots over the cut line with six holes to play. He birdied the 13th, 16th and 17th to make the cut with a shot to spare.