Woods rues missed opportunities

Tiger Woods shot 66 in the USPGA Championship today – but came off Baltusrol’s final green a disappointed man.

The Masters and Open champion, who had survived the halfway cut in the final major of the season with nothing to spare, stood on the 17th tee knowing he had a great chance for something really special.

Two par fives were ahead of him and birdies at both of them would enable him to equal his lowest round in a major – 64 at Troon in 1994 – and send a real message to overnight leader Phil Mickelson.

But those two holes measure 650 and 554 yards and Woods had to settle for pars on both on them.

At level par he was still eight adrift of Mickelson, who was still nearly three hours away from resuming his bid for a second major crown.

Having been 113th after his opening 75 and 62nd after 36 holes he had made a further move up to 23rd, but it was not quite the charge it might have been.

“I didn’t get it as low as I wanted and I’m a little hot right now,” said Woods, referring to his mood rather than the scorching temperature.

“I’m disappointed because I had four opportunities on the back nine and could easily have been three shots better.

“If the leaders shoot in the mid-60s this afternoon, guys like myself will be hard pressed to win this tournament.”

Nobody has been on the green in two on the 17th – the longest hole in major history – but Woods had the length in his second-round 69 and might even have gone through but for tugging it a touch and kicking into sand.

Off the perfect drive again this time he had 276 yards to go and took out a three-wood once more, but pulled it even more and the ball flew into the crowd.

His chip over the sand came up 25 feet short and he had to settle for a par five.

Woods was on in two at the last, but 30 feet above the flag and rolled it nine feet past. “A terrible putt,” he called it.

Missing the return totally took the edge off his day’s work – a day that actually began with a bogey.

Woods, who came to New Jersey to try to become the first player in golf history to win three majors in a season twice, blocked his drive under a tree.

His second was punched under the branches, but found a greenside bunker. He came out moderately to 10 feet and missed the putt.

Woods then had to save par on the second after missing that fairway as well and although he gave himself a birdie chance on the 503-yard par-four third with two arrow-like shots the putt was a tough one and he did not read enough break on it.

But he then birdied the fifth, ninth, 10th, 14th and 15th and was flying at that point. The finish, though, took the wind out of his sails.

Luke Donald, disappointed to drop back from one under to two over yesterday, got going in the right direction again when he opened with a birdie and then rolled in a 40-footer on the 14th.

But a bogey on the seventh followed to leave him seventh.

Ian Poulter, also round in 69 on Thursday and able to add only a 74 to that, double-bogeyed the third, but birdied the fifth and eighth to return to three over.

Mickelson led by three from fellow American Jerry Kelly and by four from Lee Westwood, Davis Love and Rory Sabbatini.