June 28, 2014. In the sunny state of Florida, there was neither sunshine nor glory for Tiger Woods and Arjun Atwal. The Indian played an aggressive round looking to make progress, but a second straight 73 left him facing the cut. Woods has dominated conversation this past week, but a shoddy second round left him badly bruised ahead of the Open, which is due to begin in a fortnight from now. Aussies Marc Leishman and Oliver Goss with 66 each and American Ricky Barnes with 69 took joint possession of the lead at the Quicken Loans National. The three men were in the clubhouse at 6-under 136, with some more golf due to be played.
Atwal made a birdie at the third, but returned the stroke straight away when he made five at the par-four fourth hole. He made a second bogey at the eighth, but recovered immediately with a birdie at the ninth before making the turn.
The back nine looked very promising for the Indian when he made back to back birdies on the 10th and 11th but he started bleeding almost immediately. Atwal made bogeys at 12, 15 & 16 before salvaging a stroke at the par-4 17th hole. The day ended with misery, when he made double bogey on the 18th.
Atwal finished at four-under through two rounds and could have easily avoided the cut, if he even managed a Par on the final hole. Meanwhile, Woods was threatening to emulate his worst opening 36-hole score of 9-over 153 (74-79) at the 2010 Wells Fargo Championships. Tiger made a double bogey at the par-4 fifth hole and lost one more when he took five at the par-4 eighth hole.
Woods heaped further misery upon himself, when he made four straight bogeys from 11th through 14th to slip into deep red territory. Eventually, he finished with a 75, to drop to 7-over through two rounds. Woods posted a 73 on Thursday, with his back showing no signs of wear and tear.
KJ Choi had an uneventful round – posting one over 72 to settle at T22 with one-under 141. Leishman was among the early starters, enjoying a blemish free round of golf. Leishman produced three birdies on the front nine and two more on the way to the clubhouse.
Much like Leishman, Goss also made a 66. Goss made five birdies and kept his sheet clean to finish the day on 66, the best round of the day. Ricky Barnes had a far more sedate round – five birdies and three bogeys giving him a 69, which was enough to jump into a share of the lead.
Reporting by Anand Datla
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