Tiger Woods has had a tough time at the US Open this year. He won’t be playing this weekend at Pinehurst No. 2 because he missed the cut after going 7-over in his two rounds. This is the first time since 2015 that Woods has missed consecutive major cuts, as he missed the final three cuts in that year after finishing in a tie for 17th at The Masters.
After finishing 60th at the Masters in April, he also missed the cut at the PGA Championship last month. Since winning the green jacket in 2019, he hasn’t finished in the top 20 in any major he’s played in, which is a streak of 13 straight majors. This is his longest such streak since the beginning of his career when he failed to finish inside the top 20 in the first six majors of 1995 and 1996.
Between 1997 and 2012, Woods never finished outside the top 20 in three consecutive majors, and he only failed to do so in back-to-back majors four times. However, in the nine majors between the 2013 PGA Championship and the 2018 U.S. Open, his best finish was a tie for 17th at Augusta. He then had a good run of sixth place at the Open Championship, second at the PGA Championship, and 15th at The Masters. But since then, he has struggled, with only four top 20 finishes in his last 25 majors.
Woods started the tournament with a birdie but struggled with bogeys on half of his final 12 holes on Thursday, ending with a 4-over 74. He briefly got inside the cut line after a birdie on the fourth hole on Friday but ended up shooting a 73.
The 48-year-old has had difficulty competing at a high level since his serious injury in a single-vehicle crash in 2021. He hasn’t made the cut at the U.S. Open since 2019, missing the tournament from 2021 to 2023 and missing the cut in 2020. His best finish at the tournament since tying for fourth in 2010 was tied for 21st in 2012 and 2019, with five missed cuts in between.
This was the third time Woods competed at Pinehurst No. 2. He finished tied for third in the 1999 U.S. Open and second in 2005 to Michael Campbell. Unfortunately, he missed the 2014 tournament when it was held at the famous course.