Related News:
Tiger Woods Trails Leader Matt Kuchar by Nine Shots at BMW Championship
Tiger Woods enters the second round of the BMW Championship, the third of the U.S. PGA Tour’s four playoff tournaments, nine strokes behind leader Matt Kuchar.
Woods, who has won the tournament five times, shot 73 yesterday at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. He began his round with a double-bogey six and dropped one more shot in his first nine holes. He then had three birdies and two bogeys to finish at 2-over par.
Kuchar won the first playoff event, the Barclays, and finished in a tie for 11th place with Woods at the Deutsche Bank Championship four days ago to take first place in the FedEx Cup standings. Should Kuchar still be there after the final playoff event, the Tour Championship, he’ll win a $10 million bonus.
Woods, who has won the FedEx Cup in two of the past three years, is 51st in the standings and needs a top-five finish to be among the 30 qualifiers for the Sept. 23-26 Tour Championship in Atlanta. He’s currently projected to be No. 53 in the standings.
“As of right now I’m only five shots back out of that spot,” Woods told reporters. “Got to keep plodding along.”
Woods’s record 273-week run as the world No. 1 has been under threat this season after he took a five-month break from the game following revelations of marital infidelity.
No. 2 Phil Mickelson, who has another chance this week to replace Woods atop the world rankings, is 1-over par after bogeying his last hole yesterday.
Kuchar, who didn’t speak to reporters after his round because he’s got laryngitis, had one bogey in a round of 64 shots that also included six birdies and an eagle. He leads by one from Ryan Moore, who had eight birdies and two bogeys. Ian Poulter is a stroke further back at 5-under.
Woods was one of four golfers chosen three days ago by captain Corey Pavin to play in next month’s Ryder Cup. Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson are 1-under after the first round while the fourth pick, Ricky Fowler, is even par.
Charley Hoffman, who won the Deutsche Bank title to climb to second in the FedEx rankings, is 1-under par, alongside Steve Stricker, who’s third in the table.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dex McLuskey in Dallas at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page