Woods exits US Open, says it ‘may or may not be’ his last

Fifteen-time major winner Tiger Woods said this could very well be his final U.S. Open, after carding a three-over-par 73 that left him at seven over for the week to miss the cut at Pinehurst on Friday.

The former world number one has kept a limited competition schedule after a horrific 2021 car crash and was non-committal about whether he would tee it up in his national open again after missing the cut at last month’s PGA Championship as well.

“I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn’t work out,” said Woods, who accepted a special exemption to compete this week.

“As far as my last Open Championship or U.S. Open Championship, I don’t know what that is. It may or may not be.”

The American was one of several notable names sent packing on Friday, as a brutal Pinehurst course exacted its toll.

Phil Mickelson’s (76) latest campaign for a career grand slam never had a chance as he finished near the bottom of the leaderboard at 15-over par.

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His LIV Golf colleague Dustin Johnson (75), who won in 2016, hit the road as well after finishing nine-over par, while twice PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (74) left North Carolina at 11-over par through 36 holes.

American Max Homa (75), who finished this year’s Masters tied for third, and Norwegian Viktor Hovland (68) had both been on the hunt for a maiden major but each missed the cut at six-over par.

World number one Scottie Scheffler (74) struggled with his putter on Friday but just made the cut at five-over par through 36 holes.

“I just couldn’t get the putts to fall,” he told reporters. “This golf course can be unpredictable at times, and maybe it got the better of me the last couple days.”