At the moment, it all seems like a dreamy, distant memory. He's gone from Firestone cash cow to just plain cowed.
Woods continued his freefalling, full-blown retreat down the leaderboard on Saturday with a 5-over 75 and is threatening to post his worst 72-hole finish in 15 years on the PGA Tour, not to mention his worst finish ever relative to par.
"Talk to the leaders," Woods said, declining to speak to the media afterward.
Relative to his dismal position, that would be everybody but Swedes Henrik Stenson and Richard Jonzon, the only guys lower than Woods, alone in 78th, on the 80-man leaderboard.
In terms of his weakest finishes ever, Woods placed 60th in his inaugural pro tournament, the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996, and 12 over at the 2003 PGA Championship, his career worsts over a full tournament. That these not-so-hallowed personal records are in jeopardy at Firestone is even more incredible.
Woods has never finished worse than T4 in any event at Firestone. His 74 in the first round Thursday was his highest score at this venue -- until Saturday's 75, anyway. He is 11 shots out of 44th place, the position he needs to finish in order to keep second-ranked Phil Mickelson from overtaking him in the world ranking, assuming Lefty finishes in the top four. Mickelson, who has never been ranked first in the world, started the third round tied for second.
"Well, if Phil plays the way he's supposed to this weekend, he'll be No. 1," Woods said in a brief comment issued only to a tour media official afterward.
Woods has been ranked No. 1 for the past 269 weeks and for a total of 611 in his career.
"I drive it terrible, hit my irons terrible, didn't putt well, and it added up to a lot," Woods told a tour official.
Even when he finally striped one down the 18th fairway, he shoved his approach shot into an oak tree by the green, where he had to scramble just to salvage a bogey. Woods only took a few moments before hitting his second chip shot.
"He didn't play very well today," playing partner J.B. Holmes said. "Hard to get motivated when you are this far back. You make a birdie and move up three spots, or made a bogey and drop three spots."
It was mostly the latter. His 11-over total is his highest 54-hole score ever, majors included.
Based on projections, Woods stands to earn exactly one FedEx Cup point this week and will fall to 114th in points, which if he holds that spot, would ensure entrance only into the first of the four events in the playoff series. Unless he makes a big move into the top 100, he won't be eligible to play at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second in the series, a tournament that benefits and is largely run by his personal charity.
VERONA — Atunyote Golf Club showed its teeth Friday, and the PGA Tour pros who took advantage of it the day before took notice.
With winds howling to as much as 40 miles per hour, the second round of the Turning Stone Resort Championship took on a much different look as the scores soared and the leader board tightened. Which should set up an intriguing weekend with 19 players within five shots of the lead heading into the closing 36 holes?
The halfway leader is Alex Cejka, who played early in the morning, fashioning one of the best rounds of the day, a 4-under-par 68. Added to an opening round of 66, Cejka is at 10-under-par 134. He stands a shot ahead of Chris Tidland, who shot a 3-under-par 69, and first-day co-leader Rory Sabtini, who came in with a 2-under-par 70 to put him at 135 for 36 holes.
Omar Uresti, whose 66 Thursday tied Sabbatini for the opening-day lead, could not make a move, but stayed in contention. Uresti bogeyed his final hole and shot an even-par 72 to finish at 7-under-par. He is in a group with John Mallinger, former PGA champion Steve Elkington, multiple tour winner Woody Austin, Robert Garrigus and Brian Davis.
"The wind is About the onlydefense for this course," Cejka said, seeking his first tour victory. "But the greens are still soft and they are putting beautifully. It's going to be an interesting weekend, I think."
The wind was so gusty at times that it blew balls on the slick greens.
Tidland, in fact, drew the break of the tournament when his 40-foot putt on No. 13 was blown to within 5-feet of the hole. He eventually sunk it for a bogey after hitting his drive in the creek.
"That was huge bonus," Tidland said. "It almost felt like a birdie because I would have had trouble getting that putt within six feet. The wind was so strong on a few holes it felt like hitting into a wall. Everything was just falling off to the right."
The cut came at 2-under-par, with 72 players making the weekend. Among those missing the cut were 2007 champion Steve Flesch, Rocco Mediate and event ambassador Notah Begay III.
Cejka, who grew up in the Czech Republic just a few miles from the German border, has been the most consistent player through two rounds.
On Thursday, he did not make a bogey and hit every green in regulation.
Friday wasn't quite as solid as Cejka did make his first two bogeys of the tournament (2, 7). But he added six more birdies and now has 11 birdies over 36 holes.
"I really like the course," he said. "I've played well here before, but my scores don't really show it. Thursday, my score should have been lower. Today, I probably got the most out of my opportunities."
He placed 53rd here in 2007 and 59th in 2009. The Las Vegas resident has two second-place finishes in his career, including the 2003 B.C. Open in Endicott.
This season, he has three top 10s, including a tie for fifth at the Reno-Tahoe Open and a tie for eighth at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
"The last two months have been very consistent," said Cejka, who ranks 92nd in FedEx Cup points and has won $723,853 this season in 21 events. "I had a few health problems the last two tournaments, but I'm feeling good now and playing confidently."
As for his position heading into the weekend, Cejka said, "It's way too early to look ahead, but I like how I'm playing and where I am. Hopefully, I'll play like I've been playing and we'll see what happens."
That said, at this point, Woods could be looking at playing as few as three more events on the PGA Tour this year, and one of them is overseas. He will play next week in the PGA at Whistling Straits, is expected to enter the FedEx opener, and has committed to play the HSBC Champions event in China in November.
The tour media official asked Woods if there was anything positive he could take from his week heading into the PGA Championship next week, the season's final major.
"No," he said. "Not right now." For Tidland, a former Oklahoma State All-American, just playing well for two days was a huge lift.
"I've been playing lousy, so to hit it this well for 36 holes is huge," he said. "I switched to some new Ping irons and they been working really well. Today I basically kept the ball in play, picked my spots on the greens and made some key putts for birdie and par. It was a totally different challenge from Thursday afternoon where the conditions were perfect."
Tidland had five missed cuts and one withdrawal in his last six tournaments, so his expectations were not very high this week.
His only top 10 came in the Honda Classic (tied for ninth) in early March and he is way down at No. 149 in the FedExCup rankings.
After finishing his final two holes from the first round Friday morning, then playing in the strong wind, it made for a long day.
"It was a late night. I didn't finish dinner until 9:30 and then we were up early today," he said. "But when you play well it makes things a lot easier."
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