Barring what would be a comeback for the ages, you can assume that Tiger Woods’ record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour victory won’t come this weekend in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
A player whose iron shots are usually impeccable stumbled to a two-over-par 73 in Friday’s second round, a casualty of a pair of wedge shots that went astray.
At even par, Woods made the cut by one shot and would need to make up nine shots and leapfrog 34 players in the next two rounds. Do not wager on that.
“I made some bad mistakes out there,” he said. “I had a wedge in my hand at 15 and made double there, sand wedge on three and made bogey there. Three runaway shots with wedges, something I rarely ever do.”
On the par-four 15th, his sixth hole of the day, he had 144 yards to the pin from the fairway, plunked a wedge into an almost impossible lie in the front bunker and wound up with a double bogey.
On No. 3, he hit another wedge into a greenside bunker and couldn’t convert an eight-foot par putt.
He added bogeys on two of the next three holes.
“I was not sharp today,” said Woods, who played in front of a large gallery that expanded throughout his round, despite his troubles. “I just could not get the ball close enough to the hole to give myself good putts. And when I did, I was in the wrong spots, I was above the hole and had to putt pretty defensively.”
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Adam Scott blasts out of a sand trap on the 15th hole during the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 16, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits out of the rough on 18th hole during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam Scott watches hits from the 14th tee during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Kuchar hits out of the sand trap on the 14th hole during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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The gallery watches a drive by Tiger Woods on the sixth hole during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Harold Varner III acknowledges the crowd have sinking a fourth-hole birdie putt during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy chips the ball onto the green near the pin to save par on the 18th hole during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy reacts after missing a birdie putt on the ninth green during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods reacts after bogeying the sixth hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Kuchar hits off the 15th tee during the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Bubba Watson lets go of his club after missing the fairway on the 11th hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits an approach shot to the ninth green during the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Harold Varner III rips his drive down the fairway toward the 18th green during the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods hits out of the rough on the edge of the 18th fairway during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods hits out of a fairway bunker on the 17th hole during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods reacts after hitting off the 17th during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods looks at the flag depicting Kobe Bryant’s No. 8 jersey as he walks to mark his ball on the eighth green during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Kuchar hits off the sixth tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A large crowd follows Tiger Woods as he hits from the fifth tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Steve Stricker hits out of the bunker on the third hole during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods as he hits out of the rough on the 18th hole during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Kuchar sinks a putt for par on the second green during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Justin Thomas pays tribute to the life of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant with customized golf shoes during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Shadows of fans in the gallery stretch across one of the bunkers on the 10th hole during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Justin Thomas gets a ruling from an official after his golf ball landed in a woman’s shopping bag in the rough near the second green during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tiger Woods hits off the third tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 13, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark hits out of the rough near the media tent on the second hole during the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 14, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy watches his tee shot on the 16th hole during the third round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 15, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Harold Varner III hits out of a bunker and onto the 10th hole green during the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 16, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits out of the rough in between two trees on the 13th hole during the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 16, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Matt Kuchar chips out of the rough on the 10th hole during the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 16, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam Scott celebrates after winning the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades on Feb. 16, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam Scott hugs his caddie John Limanti after winning the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 16, 2020. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Woods is playing this tournament for the 14th time, still looking for his first victory in this event. Last year, he made an early charge in the rain-delayed third round, and was hoping that he might be able to duplicate that again Saturday when he tees off early on No. 10.
“Hopefully I can get off to a quick start like I did last year and go birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie or something like that tomorrow.”
Expensive Miss
The next time your opponent asks you to give him a three-foot putt, consider Aaron Baddeley. He looked over a three-footer on the 18th hole in the second round, made his stroke and the ball caught the left edge of the cup and spun out. The bogey wrapped up a two-over 73 and left him one shot over the cut line and without a paycheck for the week.
Major Miscues
Nine major championship winners failed to make the cut: Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, Danny Willett, Keegan Bradley, Francesco Molinari, Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson, Jimmy Walker and Jason Day.
Highlights from the second round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
