The second round of the Quail Hollow Championship turned into a day of extreme rarities on Friday at Quail Hollow Club. Billy Mayfair,a pudgy 43-year-old who has not won in 12 years,shot his second straight 68 and took the lead. Tiger Woods,the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world,shot a 79 and took a hike,missing a cut for only the sixth time in his professional career. And then there was the unidentified heckler who was escorted from the 17th hole by security guards after hollering some remarks at Woods about his extramarital affairs after Woods left the green for the 18th tee. It is a rare Friday at a PGA Tour event when the tournament leader reaches eight-under while playing in relative obscurity,as Mayfair did. In front of a small audience,Mayfair hit all but two fairways and birdied seven holes (while bogeying three) to take a one-stroke lead over Ángel Cabrera,who shot a 67 while playing alongside Woods,and a two-stroke lead over four others: Phil Mickelson (68),Dustin Johnson (65),Paul Goydos (70) and JP Hayes (64). While Mayfair was putting together his best two rounds of the past 18 months,the bulk of the record crowd was taking in the morbidly curious spectacle of Woodss coming apart at the seams. It all happened on the back nine,where his incoming 43 matched his nine-hole high and left him at nine-over 153,the highest 36-hole score of his career. Many firsts Other previous marks against which Woods is rarely measured: the last time he missed a cut was last July at the British Open at Turnberry,and the last time he missed one at a regular PGA Tour event was in the 2005 Funai Classic. No one could recall the last time Woods four-putted a green,which he did at the 15th on Friday,nor could anyone recall the last time he pitched a ball into the water from 47 yards,as he did at the 14th hole. Those back-to-back double bogeys were the first of their kind for Woods since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2007,when he double-bogeyed the 17th hole and triple-bogeyed the 18th. He missed the cut by eight shots. How did he take it? Rather well,all things considered,doffing his cap at the final hole before shaking hands and smiling with Cabrera and Stewart Cink,who missed the cut by two strokes after shooting 72-75. Woods hit only two fairways but had zero outbursts and pounded no clubs. Yeah,I didnt play well, he said,and more importantly,my short game wasnt very good. I chipped poorly,putted poorly,but for the most part I didnt really hit the ball that poorly until the end,when it was already pretty much out of reach. Its frustrating. I didnt have much. You have to let it go. Its like baseball. You go 0 for 4 two days in a row like I did,youve got a whole new tournament next week,which is great. And there are a few great things about this weeks event,not the least being the opportunity Mickelson has to pull a bit closer to Woods in the rankings. A victory here would give Mickelson a 4-0 edge in the last four tournaments in which both he and Woods competed. Woods might have been more disturbed than he let on,but he hid it well if he was. At least I get the weekend to watch and see how its done,how real players play golf, he said. And hopefully I can piece it together for next week and be ready to go.
