LA JOLLA, Calif. — Well, that was quick.
Now you see Tiger Woods making his first official PGA Tour start in 17 months, and now you don’t, after he missed the cut Friday at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Woods is learning the game of golf does not care who you once were or what you once did.
Those 79 career wins and 14 major championships? Congratulations. What are you doing now?
Those eight professional wins, including the last of your 14 major championships, the 2008 U.S. Open you won at Torrey Pines? OK, well done. Now move along.
Woods, before his unceremoniously quiet exit after missing the cut by four shots at 4-over (12 shots worse than leader Justin Rose), learned this week Torrey Pines does not care he once seemingly owned the lease on the place.
Woods, who shot 76 in his opening round on the South Course and managed only an even-par 72 Friday on the easier North Course, learned quickly he was not in the Bahamas anymore, playing the forgiving wide-open Albany Golf Club fairways he basked in at his own Hero World Challenge in December.
“It’s frustrating not being able to have a chance to win the tournament,” Woods said.
This was Woods’ first full-field event since he played in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015. So missing the 36-hole cut — even though it’s the first time he has done so in 17 starts at Torrey Pines — was not a shock. And it doesn’t mean he won’t regain his game, contend and win again.
But this is what the last two days told us: Woods is just another golfer right now, and until further notice, that’s all he is. He did nothing special this week. “Ordinary” is the best way to describe the state of Woods’ game right now.
Perhaps the best thing to happen to Woods the past two days was that his high-octane playing partners, world No. 1 Jason Day and No. 3 Dustin Johnson, did not leave him in the dust. Neither Day (3-over) nor Johnson (2-over) made the cut.
It was only the 16th missed cut of the 41-year-old Woods’ career.
“It’s coming,” Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava said. “There were better drives, better iron shots. [Friday] was better. There were a lot more solid shots, more fairways. He was frustrated [Thursday]. You have to be patient. He knows he needs more reps, more rounds. He’s not going to turn it around overnight.”
Woods’ vision is on one tournament and one tournament only: The Masters in April.
“I’m trying to get ready for the first full week in April,” he said. “That’s where eventually I want to have everything come together. That’s the plan. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to win this golf tournament on the weekend, but I have next week.”
Woods heads to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic Dubai next week. In three weeks, he will play the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles, then it’s the Honda Classic at the start of the Florida swing.
We’ll know a lot more about him and where he’s headed after those events are complete.
“I feel infinitely stronger than I did at the Bahamas,” Woods said. “I just feel like I’ve really made some nice strides with my game, but I haven’t tested it yet.”
Woods was asked if he takes any motivation from what has unfolded at the Australian Open, where thirty-something stars have prospered, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadel playing in the men’s final and the Williams sisters playing each other in the women’s final.
“It is like old times seeing all four of them in the final like that,” Woods said. “It’s a testament to all of their wills and work ethic because each and every one of them [has] been injured and been hurt and been sidelined — of late, too. It’s like rolling back the clock.”
Woods, who hasn’t won since 2013 and is coming off the longest layoff of his career after two back surgeries, is desperate to roll back his own clock.
“It’s trying to get everything coming together at the right time,” Woods said.
While many in the game felt the difficulty of Torrey Pines made this a tough place for him to start after the long layoff, Woods believed his familiarity and past success made it the perfect place to start.
As he quickly found out, none of what he did in the past mattered this week. Torrey Pines, once a familiar friend, kicked him out before he had a chance to relive old times.