Tiger Woods hits worst ever round as a professional with nightmare 11-over par second round in the Phoenix Open

Tiger Woods’ much-heralded return to action ended in abject failure yesterday as he shot his worst round as a professional to miss the cut by a country mile at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

While Woods’ attendance at the event came with a fanfare and a record crowd, his 11-over-par round of 82 matched the miserable wet weather at TPC Scottsdale.

It was just the 13th time in his career that Woods had missed the cut in a professional event and it left him last on the early second-round leaderboard — exactly where he finished at his own World Challenge event in December on his comeback from injury. 

Woods, who struggled last year after having back surgery in March and took four months off from August to fully recover, expected to be a little rusty. 

But he had not planned on propping up the 132-man field, especially after comments before the tournament about feeling as good as ever under the direction of new swing consultant Chris Como.

The 39-year-old hit a triple bogey, two double bogeys, six bogeys and just two birdies to close on 13-over-par. It was so bad that all he could do was try to laugh it off. ‘I’m just doing this so I don’t get fined,’ Woods joked in reference to Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch’s infamous line at a Super Bowl media day this week. 

‘We all have days like this. Unfortunately mine was in a public setting. But even on bad days like this you just have to keep fighting.’

Woods put most of the blame on adapting to changes in his swing. He said: ‘I was caught between patterns, old pattern, new pattern.  'I got it better on my back nine and hit some better shots, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do on it.’ So much so that Woods suggested he may skip tomorrow’s Super Bowl in Phoenix and instead practice at home in Florida. 

He said: ‘I’m going home right now. I’ve got to practice each and every day. Just work on it. Hitting golf balls is one thing and playing golf at home is another. Playing tournament golf is entirely another. I have to continue with the process.

‘I have been here before. It wasn’t that long ago that I changed my swing with Sean Foley and I was Player of the Year only a year ago. You’ve got to keep things in perspective, and sometimes it’s difficult to do that.’