Twenty-five years ago, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were key actors in the drama that played out when Payne Stewart captured the 1999 US Open at Pinehurst No.2. This week, at the same venue in North Carolina’s Sandhills, they were aging bit players who will be long gone from the property when the trophy is raised on Sunday.
US Open 2024: Three Australians through to the weekend at Pinehurst
Woods, 48 and playing on a special invitation from the USGA, shot a second-round, three-over-par 73 on Friday to finish at seven-over and miss the cut that came at five-over 145. Mickelson, who turns 54 on Sunday and was at Pinehurst by virtue of his 2021 PGA Championship win, fared far worse, scoring 79-76 to end at 15 over – five spots from the bottom.
Has Tiger's U.S. Open story come to a close? 👀
He addressed the media after missing the cut at Pinehurst. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Ew0ZRVzfMc
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 14, 2024
It was Mickelson, of course, who pushed Stewart to the 72nd hole in ’99, with the champion making a birdie putt to beat him. Woods contended deep into that weekend and ultimately tied for third, another shot back.
Since then, three other US Opens have been played at Pinehurst No.2, and while Woods finished runner-up to Michael Campbell in 2005 and missed 2014 when Martin Kaymer blitzed the field by eight, Mickelson went T-33 and T-64.
Phil Mickelson reacts to his missed putt on the third green in the second round. [Ross Kinnaird]
Woods has three US Open wins among his 15 major victories, while it appears his chief rival will never achieve the feat, despite five victories totaled over the other three majors. Mickelson now is 0-for-31 in the US Open, with no top-10 finishes since tying for second at Merion in 2013.
Woods, who looked less hobbled by his fused right ankle than in past starts, still was not sharp enough to overcome the challenges of Pinehurst. Heading in, he’d played only seven full competitive rounds in the first five-plus months of the season. Over two rounds this week, Woods recorded only three birdies while hitting only 19 of 36 greens in regulation. On the positive side, he had a plus number (0.39) in strokes gained/putting.
“I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out,” Woods said after his round.
With 82 PGA Tour wins, Woods left little doubt about how much competitive golf he’ll play the rest of this year. “I’ve only got one more tournament this season, so … I don’t think even if I win the British Open … I’ll be in the [FedEx Cup] Playoffs,” he said. “Just one more event and then I’ll come back whenever I come back.”
The Open Championship will be played July 18-21 at Royal Troon in Scotland.
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“As far as my last Open Championship or US Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be,” Woods said.
There were plenty of other past major champions who missed the cut in the extremely difficult playing conditions on Pinehurst No.2. They included four US Open winners: Justin Rose (six-over), Dustin Johnson (nine-over), Gary Woodland (10-over) and Lucas Glover (13-over).
Also missing the cut were two notable PGA champs – Australia’s Jason Day (eight-over) and Justin Thomas (11-over). World No.5 Viktor Hovland and No.10 Max Homa were eliminated at six-over, while popular players Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris were eight-over.
