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Tiger Woods (74) makes cut, but backs up at Riviera with cold putter, ‘very bad’ finish

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It was a quick turnaround for Tiger Woods on Friday at the Genesis Invitational.

Just over 14 hours removed from wrapping up a first-round, 2-under 69, Woods and his surgically repaired right leg were back on the tee at Rivera, this time at the iconic par-4 10th hole, on another chilly morning in Los Angeles.

Woods will have another early start Saturday.

Making his first non-major PGA Tour start since fall 2020, Woods backed up with a 3-over 74 and made the 36-hole cut on the number. When he wrapped up play Friday afternoon by bogeying three of his final four holes, Woods was 1 over and a shot below the projected cut line before the line moved late in the day.

“This is probably the highest score I could have shot today,” Woods said afterward after hitting just five fairways, nine greens and ranking ahead of only about a dozen players in the 129-man field in strokes-gained: putting.

“Probably should have shot probably five or six better than this easily.”

Woods identified two culprits to Friday’s poor showing: The putter had trouble warming up, and Woods didn’t exactly replicate that birdie-birdie-birdie finish from Thursday.

“A very bad finish,” Woods added.

First, the flatstick. Woods missed putts of 9 feet, 4 feet, 14 feet and 5 feet on his first four holes; the latter two misses, at Nos. 12 and 13, resulted in back-to-back bogeys.

“I just blocked them, they were just bad putts,” Woods said. “They were not very hard, good reads.”

Yet, Woods battled back, mainly with his ball-striking, to turn in where he started the day, 2 under.

He nearly aced the 187-yard 14th hole, his tee ball ending up 10 inches from the hole.

He saved par from 10 feet at the par-4 15th after chunking his approach shot about 90 yards and some 25 yards short of the green. Even though he missed a 5-footer for birdie at the par-3 16th hole, Woods stuffed his 180-yard third shot at No. 17 to inside 3 feet for his second birdie of the day.

Woods would climb the hill toward the first tee after an even-par 36.

“I could have easily got off to a very hot start, and I did not,” Woods said, “and then middle part of the round, I could have turned it around a little bit, and I did not.”

Woods began the front nine by missing an 8-footer for birdie at the par-5 first hole, the easiest on the course. He’d par the next four holes, too, as his putter finally kicked it into gear; two of those made putts came from 10 feet.

When Woods reached the par-3 sixth, he couldn’t hang on any longer. Woods found the green, but from 70 feet, he putted into the center-green bunker. He got up and down, but he still dropped a shot.

Woods would cap his round with back-to-back bogeys, barely able to advance his ball out of a fairway bunker at No. 8 and then victim of a fried-egg lie greenside at No. 9.

“Realistically, I had two bad calls on the wind on 6 and 9,” Woods said, “and ended up costing me two shots there.”