VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, North Carolina -- Tiger Woods may have played his last US Open. Either way, he missed the cut on Friday at Pinehurst No. 2 after shooting a 3-over 73 that took him to 7-over total and a couple of shots outside of the cut line.
"It was probably the highest score I could have possibly shot today," Woods said after the round. "I hit a lot of good shots that just didn't quite go my way, or I hit good putts, and then I put myself in a couple bad spots with some bad lag putts. But again, as I said, it was probably the highest score I could have shot today."
Woods said the backbreaker on his round was a par on the par-3 15th after sticking his second shot to birdie range.
"No. 15 hurt," Woods said. "That was a sweet little 7-iron in there and a good putt, high-side lip.
"If I make that putt, it flips the momentum, and I'm looking pretty good on the last three holes, and instead I'm on the wrong side of the cut line and having to do something good on the last three holes."
Instead, Woods made a bogey on the 16th and pars in from there to miss the weekend.
"It's one of those things where in order to win a golf tournament, you have to make the cut. I can't win the tournament from where I'm at, so it certainly is frustrating," Woods said. "I thought I played well enough to be up there in contention. It just didn't work out."
Woods played the US Open this year on a special exemption granted by the USGA to the 15-time major winner after his most recent five-year exemption for winning the 2019 Masters expired. Like the legends that preceded him, including Nicklaus and Palmer, Woods could seek exemptions for several years to come and not be turned away by the USGA. However, Woods doesn't seem certain in the moment that he would take another crack at the national championshp.
"As far as my last U.S. Open Championship, I don't know what that is," Woods said. "It may or may not be."
Woods has one more planned tournament this year, playing the Open Championship in July at Royal Troon. And even thinking about that, Woods seemed dour about his competitive future.
"Just one more event," he said, "and then I'll come back whenever I come back."
