Weak round threatens Woods' rank

AKRON, Ohio - Things got so bad for Tiger Woods off the tee in Friday's second round of the Bridgestone Invitational that he had to supply his own sound track.

"Get in the hole!" he sneered under his breath at an errant iron shot into the par-3 seventh hole, repeating the clichéd phrase so often yelled by the loudest of his fans.

Woods followed up his worst round ever at Firestone Country Club, a 4-over 74 on Thursday, by matching his second-worst round, a 72, on Friday. His two-round 146 leaves him 6 strokes over par and trailing the midway-point leader Retief Goosen by 13 strokes.

In addition, Woods may also be toppled from the No. 1 ranking in the golf world for the first time in five years. Phil Mickelson, ranked No. 2 in the world, is tied for second with Justin Leonard, a shot behind Goosen. As a result, Mickelson is on the verge of wresting that No. 1 ranking from Woods, who has enjoyed the distinction for the last 269 weeks.

In his 261 PGA Tour starts, Woods has played the first 36 holes worse in only four tournaments - and it is happening on a golf course where he has won seven times.

Woods bolted after his round on Friday, walking away from reporters after signing his scorecard and then hustling to his waiting luxury SUV.

It wasn't just bad scores, however. The biggest problem is that Woods has almost no idea where his ball is going off the tee. He hit only three of 14 fairways in the second round. A closer look shows he hit seven tee shots into the right rough - sometimes far, far to the right - and three other times he pounded the ball into the high grass on the left.

In other words, he was all over the course, visiting spots that the game's best seldom see.

On Wednesday, before he suffered through the two tough rounds, Woods was asked about his driving.

"Of late I've been driving the ball so much better," he said.

He did not back that up on the course. His play speaks volumes about where he is just a week before the final major of the year, the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.

Woods came into the Bridgestone ranked ninth in the U.S. Ryder standings, with the top eight assured of spots on the team. He repeatedly said during a pretournament interview that he intended to play his way on, instead of forcing American captain Corey Pavin to select him with one of his discretionary picks.

But Woods is not showing that his game is in shape with just 10 days remaining until those eight automatic qualifiers for the U.S. side are finalized.

Woods hit his first drive of the day (on the 10th hole) far to the right and ended up bogeying. On the next tee, he slashed the ball far to the left, scattering the gallery, but ended up making par.

After walking off the second tee, he turned back to playing partner Lee Westwood, who was also spraying the ball off the tee, and said: "So how are we doing so far?" Both laughed.

Westwood, ranked No. 3 in the world, withdrew after his round on Friday, a 76, because of an ankle injury.

"Neither of us played very well, did we?" said Westwood, who will miss the PGA Championship next week. "We're all human. We all have bad days."

Woods didn't hit a drive into the fairway until his eighth hole, about the same time a fan yelled, "Welcome back, Tiger, to your home away from home."

On the next hole, he drove directly behind a large fir tree. He whacked a 3-iron off the low-hanging branches, the ball going across the fairway and hitting another tree there. He then chipped 12 feet past the hole and missed the par putt.

It was like that all day long, with Woods finding trouble repeatedly.

Coming into the event as the defending champion, Woods had broken par 28 times in 36 rounds at Firestone. His previous high score on the course was a 72 in 2003.