Sunday, May 13, 2012

Johnson leads TPC; McIlroy misses cut

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida — After breaking 70 for the first time in seven weeks, Tiger Woods headed to the back of the practice range at the TPC Sawgrass to fine-tune his swing. That was much better than going to the clubhouse to clean out his locker.

News photoUp there somewhere: Tiger Woods watches his shot from the fairway on the second hole in the second round of The Players Championship on Friday. Woods shot a 68 and is six strokes off the pace. AP

The Players Championship featured Matt Kuchar, Zach John and Kevin Na atop the leaderboard Friday.

What it lacked was some of the golf's biggest names.

Rory McIlroy stumbled to a 76 and became the first player at No. 1 in the world ranking to miss the cut at Sawgrass since Greg Norman in 1996.

Steve Stricker had made a PGA Tour-leading 49 cuts in a row until he shot 74 and ended a streak that began in August 2009.

And with 11 holes left in his round, Woods was two shots over the cut line and in jeopardy of missing back-to-back cuts for the first time in his career.

The thought never crossed his mind.

Instead, he blistered a 5-wood into the breeze on the eighth hole — the toughest par 3 on the course — and watched it catch a slope on the edge of the green and roll 8 feet away from the cup. That was the first of four straight birdies for Woods, who wound up with a 68.

He said he was only thinking about a 66 to get momentum going into the weekend, and he missed by two.

"I was trying to shoot my number today," Woods said. "Sixty-six was my number today. I figured that would have been a good way to go into the weekend, being probably four or five back. But I'm still with a good chance."

Everyone has a chance going into the weekend, including Woods and Phil Mickelson, the Hall of Fame's newest member. They were six shots behind. But they are chasing the gang from Sea Island — home of Kuchar and Johnson, along with PGA Tour rookie Harris English, who was one shot out of the lead.

Johnson made five birdies on the back nine until a bogey on the 18th hole, though he matched the best score of the second round with a 66.


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