It’s a Tough Cut for Tiger

Tiger Woods could barely talk, his voice siphoned by flu, so it was remarkable that he could play golf.

An unexpected rainstorm didn’t make things any easier, especially because it caught Woods and caddie Steve Williams so off guard that neither of them thought to pack an umbrella for the day’s round.

Woods, dripping wet and freezing in the rain, shot a second-round three-over-par 74 and then had to hold his breath as the cut line dropped a shot late in the day, allowing Woods to make the cut right on the number at one-over 143.

“It was just brutal,” said Woods, shivering and speaking so softly he was barely audible. “It was a little wet and a little cold coming in.”

The rain began coming down when Woods and playing partners Brent Geiberger and Jonathan Kaye reached the fifth hole -- their 14th of the day -- and it got fairly heavy by the time they reached the sixth tee.

Geiberger didn’t even have rain gear and none of the three players had umbrellas, though spectators offered to let them borrow the compact umbrellas they had with them. Woods politely declined.

“That’s not going to keep you dry,” Woods said.

Instead, the players braved the storm and turned their rain-soaked hats backward to prevent the water from dripping off the brims and into their line of vision when they addressed the ball.

“We were all just soaking wet today,” Woods said.

The bizarre scene turned surreal when Woods began to struggle with his game and it became evident that he was flirting with the cut line.

Normally known as a strong finisher, he bogeyed his last two holes. Normally a solid iron player, he hit only 10 greens in regulation and routinely left himself with 20- and 30-footers for birdie.

Even his normally clutch putting seemed to desert him. He missed five putts inside of 10 feet, including par putts of five and eight feet on his final two holes.

“I hit my irons just terrible,” he said. “And I just couldn’t shake anything in on the greens either.”

Woods has missed only four cuts in his career, but when he finished on Friday, he was one shot outside the cut line and, after no missed cuts from 1999 to 2004, he was in danger of a third missed cut in nine months.

His PGA Tour-record streak of 142 consecutive tournaments without a missed cut ended last May at the Byron Nelson Championship. He missed the cut again at the Funai Classic in October.

Several players behind Woods struggled in the rainy conditions, however, which moved the cut line and allowed Woods to play the weekend.

He could have saved himself the grief, but after blasting a 319-yard drive on the ninth hole -- his last -- he missed the green with a 125-yard wedge shot and didn’t get it up and down.

“It was very frustrating,” said Woods, who added that he practiced his swing in front of a mirror Thursday night. “I hit the ball great off the tee today, which I haven’t done in a long time. Unfortunately the strengths of my game are my iron play and my putting and all of a sudden I didn’t do that today.”