Golf
Bob Harig, ESPN Senior Writer 6y

Tiger Woods at even-par after 2nd-round 71 at Carnoustie, set for 1st Open weekend since 2014

PGA Tour, Golf

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Forgoing the driving range or the putting green following his round, Tiger Woods instead was headed for the gym late Friday afternoon.

Perhaps it is there where he might work out any lingering frustration.

Although Woods appeared relatively content -- a second straight 71 gave him consecutive scores of par or better to open a major championship for the first time in five years -- surely there was some angst over a missed birdie putt at the last hole or the two early bogeys that put him in catch-up mode for most of a rainy day at The Open.

"I could have cleaned up the round a little bit," he said. "And I did not get off to exactly the best start, being 2-over through three."

Woods didn't say so, but getting the poor end of the starting time draw undoubtedly did not sit well, either, a rub-of-the-green scenario that did not favor him this time: the toughest conditions on Thursday and rain throughout his round on Friday.

And here is Woods at the halfway point of The Open at 142, even par, but wondering what might have been. He is outside of the top 25 and six strokes back of the lead held by Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner.

"Most of the good scores yesterday were in the morning, and they had no wind, and they have very little wind this afternoon with a softer golf course," Woods said. "But we certainly had a chance to get the ball down a little bit further and control it on the ground a little bit better.

"The ball wasn't rolling 80, 90 yards like it was yesterday. It was a little bit easier in that regard."

Despite the tough conditions Thursday, Woods tied for the lowest score among the last 12 groups on the course.

Friday was not easy, but Woods said the rain actually helped soften the course a bit and helped the greens.

"I played a little bit yesterday," he said. "Today wasn't quite as good, but I finally birdied a par-5 [a two-putt at the par-5 16th], so that's a positive."

Woods hit 3-iron, 5-iron to that green and had a 20-footer for eagle. He used his driver four times, hitting just one fairway, at the fourth, which he birdied.

But he was fortunate to make a bogey at the second after a terrible drive well right of the fairway, and he failed to birdie the par-5 sixth after another wayward drive that meant he could not advance the ball very close to the green.

There has been some question about Woods' strategy, a sense that perhaps he is not being aggressive enough.

But if he's looking for places where he let strokes get away, it was at the par-5s on Thursday -- where he had 8-iron second-shot approaches and failed to make birdies -- as well as his three-putt at the 13th.

On Friday, he looked to the failed birdie at the par-5 sixth, a missed 7-footer at the 18th and 32 putts total. Woods hit 13 greens in regulation and made four birdies.

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