Despite disappointment, Woods refuses to make excuses

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Tiger Woods was, well, let’s just say, ticked off.

His face was grim. His body language practically screamed, don’t mess with me. Yet for all the disappointment of missing the cut at the U.S. Open on Friday, Woods knew his job wasn’t quite finished.

So he stepped in front of the microphone and patiently analyzed that shocking round of 76 that sent him packing at the midway point of a major championship for the first time in 38 starts as a pro.

“I didn’t execute properly today,” said Woods, who has won 10 majors. “I didn’t drive the ball all that great, didn’t hit my irons well and didn’t have the speed again, so (that’s) not a good combo.”

Nearly two dozen TV cameras chronicled the scene while sportswriters scribbled hastily on notepads and photographers got one last snapshot. But it may have been Woods’ playing partner, defending champion Michael Campbell, who put things in perspective.

“It’s his first time back since his father passed away,” Campbell said. “I mean, come on. He’s actually very emotional right now. It’s just one of those things that he is human, and it’s going to be tough for him.

“Toughest conditions in the world at a major championship, first time coming back after two months or nine weeks off, his father passing away. I mean, God, you’ve got to give him credit for actually turning up.

“That’s one thing that I really admire about Tiger is that he wanted to come back just to play golf and get away.”

Unfortunately, the golf he played at Winged Foot simply wasn’t good enough. Woods only hit seven fairways in two days and hit just 50 percent of his greens. He put the pressure on his putter, which he used 63 times on greens whose speed he couldn’t judge.

Woods said he wasn’t rusty after taking nine weeks off while his father and best friend, Earl, fought a battle with cancer that he lost on May 3. Campbell, on the other hand, suggested it may have been a lack of intensity, not focus that ended Woods bid.

“I thought I was playing well enough to shoot an under-par round today, and I didn’t do that,” Woods said. “I just didn’t put it together at the right time. I didn’t execute properly, and consequently, I shot 6 over.”

Woods started on the back nine Friday and made two double bogeys. A rare birdie on the 17th -- one of just three he made in 36 holes -- coupled with clutch saves on Nos. 18 and 1 gave him a glimmer of hope.

“You’ve always got to feel that way,” Woods said. “I felt like if I just kept going, kept plodding along, I could have turned it around any time with one putt or one shot.”

Tiger Woods only hit 25 percent of his fairways at Winged Foot. (Greenwood/ WireImage)

Unfortunately, good shots were in short supply as Woods slashed out of the rough, blasted out of bunkers and, at one point, let go of his club at the end of his backswing. The inward 38 included back-to-back bogeys on the closing holes, leaving him 12 over and on his way home.

“He never gives up, that boy, I’ll tell you,” Campbell said. “He needed to make a birdie there on the last hole. He rushed his chip 20 feet past, but he didn’t give up at all. To come back under the circumstances speaks volumes about how strong he is as a person.

“Time heals, and I believe that eventually it’s going to empower Tiger to be a better player.”

Woods, for his part, would make no excuses. He wasn’t cutting himself any slack, either, despite the turmoil in his life of late.

“What’s transpired off the golf course, I don’t know if it gives you a different type of perspective,” he said. “But I don’t care if you had what transpired in my life of recent or not, but poor execution is never going to feel very good.”

Woods said he may return to competition the week of July 4 at the Cialis Western Open. Already his eyes were on another goal.

“Unfortunately, I missed this one, and hopefully I can win the British,” he said.