Woods out as Irish eye Open title

Tiger Woods missed his first halfway cut as a professional at a major championship as he bowed out of the US Open at Winged Foot.

American Steve Stricker led the way on one-under – the only man in the field in red figures – with Colin Montgomerie alone in second on level par after adding a 71 to his opening 69.

The Irish competitors are well placed going into the third round - none more so than Padraig Harrington, who carded a magnificent 69 to finish tied for fifth on two over par, courtesy of a birdie on the 18th.

He joins nine Europeans in the top 14, including fellow Irishmen Graeme McDowell on three-over and Darren Clarke two shots further back.

Debutant Phillip Archer is on four-over alongside Sweden’s Peter Hedblom, with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ian Poulter tied for 14th on five over par.

The biggest surprise was the performance of England’s Kenneth Ferrie, who was playing only his third professional event in America and fourth major in total.

Ferrie carded an opening 71 and birdied the first, seventh, ninth and 11th on Friday afternoon to find himself twoshots clear of the field on three under par.

The 27-year-old was unable to maintain his amazing form and ran up back-to-back double bogeys on 14 and 15, but a round of 70 was enough for a share of third place alongside Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

“I feel as though I left a few shots out there but at the end of the day I am only one over par for the tournament and everyone says over par is going to win,” said Ferrie, who became embroiled in a gamesmanship row with Paul McGinley at the Irish Open last month.

“I’m sure tomorrow I’ll wake up and be pretty pleased but at the moment I’m a bit peeved. It’s my first US Open and I had no idea what to expect after hearing some of the horror stories about previous events.

“But I’m a huge fan of this golf course. There are a lot of birdie chances but, as with me, two bad swings and it’s back-to-back double bogeys.

“I knew where I was on the leaderboard and when you are walking down a fairway and 25,000 photographers turn up it’s a bit of a dead give-away anyway! For the weekend I’ll try to do the things I’ve been doing the last days and hopefully that will stand me in good stead.”

Montgomerie carded 17 pars and just one bogey and will be in the final group tomorrow for the first time since 1994.

“I’ve not competed here since 1997, that’s nine years ago, and it’s nice to get back in the frame,” said the 42-year-old Scot, who carded a back nine of 43 in the final round of the Austrian Open on Sunday.

“That’s the beauty of this game, you’re never quite sure.

“I’m just glad I managed to hold on. We all think it could have been three shots better but it could have been three shots worse. A couple of 70s from here and you never know what can happen.”

Woods had played all four rounds in each of his 37 majors since joining the paid ranks, last missing one while still an amateur in the 1996 US Masters.

But the world number one had never looked like making it after rounds of 76 and 76 for a 12-over-par total of 152.

The rule stipulating any player within 10 shots of the leader – plus the top 60 and ties – makes the cut could have been Woods’ saviour, but Stricker was already in the clubhouse at one under par.

Asked how he felt, Woods replied: “Pissed. That pretty much sums it up right there.

“I felt I was playing well enough to shoot under par today and I didn’t do that. It wasn’t rust. I just did not put it together at the right time. I didn’t execute properly and consequently I shot six-over.

“I felt I could have turned it around at any time with just one shot, one putt. I made two good saves on 18 and the first and thought that would be pretty good, I thought I could turn it round there. I knew if I made a birdie coming in the 10-shot rule would have got me in.

“The course is very difficult. The wind is up like it was yesterday afternoon and marginal shots are going to get killed here, more so here than any other US Open venue.”

Woods refused to blame off-course issues for his performance, adding: “What’s transpired off the course, I don’t know if it gives you a different type of perspective, but I don’t care if you have what happened in my life recently or not, poor execution is never going to feel good.”

Playing his first competitive round after a nine-week lay-off following the death of his father, Woods opened with four straight pars but then took a double bogey six on the 14th, fluffing his chip from the edge of the green and three-putting from long range.

He then suffered a terrible slice of bad luck on the 16th when his approach to the green caught an overhanging tree and ricocheted some 50 yards backwards onto a hole on the East Course. From there he pitched into a greenside bunker and took three more to get down for another double bogey.

A curling 20ft putt on the 17th gave Woods only his third birdie of the week, but he then three-putted the fourth, charging his birdie attempt nine feet past and missing the return for another bogey.

Further bogeys followed at the eighth and ninth and Woods was well and truly resigned to his fate.