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Tiger Woods Struggles Coming in at Bay Hill, Drops to 5th

Tiger Woods left some shots out there Friday in the second round at Bay Hill, and that’s an understatement. Once cruising and just one shot back, Woods bogeyed the finishing three famous holes of Arnold Palmer’s tournament and ended up shooting a 70. He is four shots behind leaders Justin Rose and Bill Haas.

When he walked off the 18th green, Woods was fuming and wondering what could have been. After 15 holes he was 5-under for his round and just one shot back. And that with missing a two-foot putt on No. 2 and a three-foot birdie try on the par 5 No. 12.

Still, Woods was disappointed but not discouraged. “I’m only four back,” he said. On the pair of missed putts, he said,  “I blocked them both. I tried to blister (No. 2) and the one at 12, it was a little left-to-righter, I blocked it, too. Just a poor putt.”

He weathered those mishaps, but lost his stride after the 15th. Woods first hiccup came on the par 5 No. 16, on which he made eagle on Thursday. This time, his tee shot found the right fairway bunker. He was fortunate to have a clean lie from about 218 yards.

He went for the green from there, but hit a poor shot that fanned out to the right, landed short of the water in front of the green and rolled into it.

His pitch shot was low and long, leaving him about 25 feet to make par. He missed – and Rose made a two-putt birdie from the fringe to move into first place at 10-under. Woods dropped to minus-7.

It did not get any better on No. 17, the 211-yard par 3. He tried to play a cut shot into the green, but the ball stayed left and ended up in the thick grass to the back left of the green. His second shot was equally bad, landing farther on the green than he would like, and the downhill angle of the green took the ball more than 25 feet from the hole and off the green.

He missed that by inches to the left for his second straight bogey that dropped him to 6-under, four behind Rose.

Then on 18, his tee shot found the right rough as the rain began to pour. He had to lay up, which he did nicely. But his pitch onto the green was 20 feet to the left of the hole, and his par putt was about three inches short.

Considering the course and the circumstance, it could have been worse. But surely Woods looks at it like it could have been much better.

 

 

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