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Tiger struggled with his putting Saturday, missing several birdie shots.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Tiger Woods hasn't given up hope but admits he faces an uphill climb to win a fourth U.S. Open title. Through two rounds and one hold of the rain-plagued 109th tournament at Bethpage Black, he has a 37-hole score of 3-over-par 147, 11 strokes behind surprise leader Ricky Barnes.
It took two days for Woods to complete his first round, a 4-over 74 that saw him get the worst of the draw. He played the last four holes in 4-over in the toughest conditions, then watched television in frustration Friday afternoon when late first-round starters took advantage of ideal scoring conditions.
"Yesterday was the day that did it," Woods said Saturday.
He finally returned to the course Saturday morning to play his second round and shot a 69, normally a good score in a U.S. Open. But this isn't a normal U.S. Open, and he was tied for 41st.
"Unfortunately, my score doesn't reflect how I've been playing," said Woods. "And it is what it is. But you never know. I've got 36 more holes over the next, probably, three days.
"And it's one of those things where if I keep plugging along just like any U.S. Open, just keep plugging along, make a birdie here and there, and we'll see where it ends up."
Paired with Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington, Woods was cheered loudly when he approached the 10th tee for his 10:06 a.m. starting time. It was warm and sunny, quite a contrast to Thursday's rainy opening round.
Woods drove into the right rough and had a tough, side-hill stance, with the ball well below his feet. He muscled his approach shot on the green and two-putted from about 40 feet.
Followed by two dozen photographers and five video cameras, Woods split the fairway at the par-4 11th, then stuffed his second shot just inside 10 feet. Just before he putted, a spectator yelled, "Roar, Tiger, Roar!" The slick, left-to-right birdie putt looked true, but slid low.
At the long par-4 12th, Woods hit a long iron approach shot into the left, greenside bunker. He blasted five feet away from the hole and salvaged par.
Woods broke through with his first birdie at the 605-yard par-5 13th. After a good drive and solid layup shot, he spun a soft sand wedge seven feet left of the hole and converted.
After a near-miss birdie putt from 50 feet at the par-3 14th, Woods hit a good drive at the uphill par-4 15th, a hole he double-bogeyed in the first round. Playing to a back-right pin location, Woods short-sided himself, missing the green to the right in deep rough. With light rain beginning to fall, he failed to reach the green with his third shot, then chipped five feet short of the cup and one-putted for a bogey.
Woods missed a good birdie opportunity at the long, downhill par-4 16th, where fans were lined up eight-deep on both sides of the fairway. After a two-putt par from 30 feet at the par-3 17th, Woods drilled a nice drive at the par-4 18th.
Faced with an uphill approach to a back-left pin placement, he knocked down the flag, the ball finishing seven feet left of the hole. After consulting with caddie Steve Williams, Woods rolled in the left-to-right putt for birdie to make the turn in 1-under 34.
Knowing he had to make a move on the back nine to make the cut and have any chance of contending for a fourth U.S. Open title, Woods got the start he wanted, sinking a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-4 first hole.
The rain increased at the par-4 second hole, thousands of fans opening their umbrellas. Woods narrowly missed an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 second. At the par-3 third, he dropped a shot when his tee shot flew long into heavy rough. Woods did well to slash his second shot six feet from the hole, but missed his par attempt.
Woods rebounded quickly at the par-5 fourth. He came up just short of the green in two, chipped to about six feet and buried the birdie putt.
With the threat of a big rainstorm fast approaching, Woods gave himself another good birdie chance at the par-4 fifth, where he hit his approach shot 17 feet from the hole. The putt appeared to fool him, the ball missing left.
At the par-4 sixth, Woods piped a 5-wood down the fairway, then hit a mediocre second shot 25 feet below the hole. Again, he hit a good putt, but the ball veered right at the hole.
Woods two-putted the par-4 seventh hole for par, leaving a 20-foot birdie putt just short. At the par-3 eighth, he had another near-miss from 15 feet, the ball refusing to break right at the hole.
Perhaps frustrated by the last two holes, Woods pushed his drive way right into tall fescue grass at the par-4 ninth.
Using all his strength, he slashed his second shot just left of a greenside bunker but was left with an awkward stance. Woods gouged a sand wedge eight feet past the hole and missed to the right.
Woods said the greens got progressively slower and bumpier. After using 31 putts in the first round, he had 30 in the second.
"The putts I hit well didn't go in," he said. "And the putts I hit poorly weren't even close.
"The frustrating thing is you have to hit the putt so hard; then you don't want to give it a little too much and run it past the hole, because you know how bumpy it is coming back."
Ball-striking wasn't a problem. Woods hit 14 of 18 greens and 10 of 14 fairways in regulation.
The biggest 36-hole comeback in U.S. Open history is held by Lou Graham, who came from 11 strokes behind in 1975 at Medinah Country Club to beat Tom Watson. Woods' best 36-hole come-from-behind win came at the 1999 Buick Invitational, where he stormed back from a nine-shot deficit.
"I'd like to [come back]," said Woods. "I'm hitting it well enough. I just need to obviously make a few more putts. And get it rolling."
After a three-hour break, Woods started his third round at 6:42 ET on Saturday evening on the back nine with Andres Romero. He parred the 10th hole, getting up and down from just left of the green before play was suspended on the 11th tee. He'll resume play Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m.