Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia said he intends to quit the DP World Tour after joining the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series, adding that he no longer feels loved on his home European circuit.

Garcia, who resigned his PGA membership to play in the LIV series, will be ineligible for future Ryder Cups if he quits the DP World Tour.

“I am quite clear about what I am going to do with the European circuit. Probably leave it,” Garcia told Spanish reporters after the Open on Sunday. “I want to play where I feel loved, and right now in the European Tour I am not feeling loved.

“I am very happy with what I have achieved, and I am going to try to enjoy it. I will play less and will spend more time at home. If I cannot play any more major, that’s the way it is, but it is not something that bothers me a lot. I am feeling sad because of the Ryder Cup but right now in the way I am playing I won’t be selected.”

Garcia’s former European Ryder Cup captain, Thomas Bjorn, has been an outspoken critic of LIV Golf and the players who have jumped ship to the breakaway circuit bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Critics say the new series amounts to blatant sportswashing by a nation trying to improve its reputation in light of its history of human rights abuses.

“When Thomas Bjorn — former Ryder Cup captain — came to the BMW Championship and told us: ‘We don’t love any of you and all players say so.’ … I already have an age and had enough suffering to be enduring nonsense like that,” Garcia said. “That’s not pretty. I have given more than half my life to the European Tour and I wanted to continue playing it, but I am not going to be where they don’t want me.

“It is very sad to receive such treatment for a personal and professional decision. … I feel sorry for the Ryder Cup, my resignation is not official, but I’m going to make it effective. I have what I have and I am very happy with it, and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I will play less; I will be more at home.”

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Australia’s Cameron Smith finally has his major victory. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy will once again have to wait for his next one.

Smith spoiled McIlroy’s party at the 150th edition of The Open at St. Andrews on Sunday. After starting the final round 4 shots behind McIlroy and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, Smith had a sizzling back nine, making five consecutive birdies to card an 8-under 64 and win the Claret Jug.

Smith is only the third player to shoot 64 or better in the final round of The Open, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Henrik Stenson (63 at Royal Troon in 2016) and Greg Norman (64 at Royal St. George’s in 1993) were the others. Smith’s 20-under score also matches Stenson’s 72-hole total in 2016 for the lowest score to par in Open history.

PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young eagled the 18th hole to finish solo second, 1 shot behind Smith. McIlroy, who was trying to win his fifth major, finished a disappointing third at 18-under. He has now gone eight full seasons since winning his last major at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

McIlroy can at least take solace that he didn’t lose this major; Smith won it with one of the best final rounds in major championship history. McIlroy clearly had the crowd behind him.

this young @McIlroyRory fan crossing his fingers for Rory as he drives is too pure for words. #TheOpen

@nbc and @peacockTV pic.twitter.com/sz7vQYn4xN

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 17, 2022

McIlroy didn’t play poorly and still had a nice cushion going into the back nine. He just didn’t give himself enough birdie chances and could only match Smith with pars.

Here are five observations from the final round at St. Andrews:

Cameron Smith has arrived

Along with Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Hovland, Smith was arguably among the best players in the world without a major championship victory before Sunday. He is ranked sixth in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has now won six times on the PGA Tour and four other times around the world.

Smith had a chance to grab the 54-hole lead Saturday, but his usually reliable putter let him down. Afterward, he told reporters this: “The golfing gods weren’t with me today.”

That certainly wasn’t the case for Smith on Sunday. He had cut McIlroy’s lead to 3 shots when he made the turn. Remarkably, by the 14th hole, Smith was 1 shot ahead. He had five straight birds starting at the 10th.

One of the best putters in the world, Smith drained putts of 5 feet on No. 10, 16 feet ten No. 11, 11 feet ten No. 12 and 18 feet on No. 13. Then on the par-5 14th, Smith nearly made an 87-foot eagle putt and tapped in for birdie and a 1-shot lead.

Smith is the only player over the past 20 years to birdie the first five holes of the back nine in the final round of a major, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Smith put the field away when he nearly drove the green on the 18th hole. From 75 feet away, he putted to 2 feet and made his eighth birdie of the round.

He became the first player to win his first major at St. Andrews by overcoming a deficit entering the final round since Dick Burton in 1939.

Smith seemed to arrive at the Players in March, when he won $3.6 million, the richest purse for a winner in PGA Tour history. He becomes only the fifth player to win both the Players and a major in the same season, joining Jack Nicklaus (1978), Hal Sutton (1983), Tiger Woods (2001) and Martin Kaymer (2014).

McIlroy’s disappointment

McIlroy has suffered plenty of heartache since he won his last major at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. He had close calls at the Masters and The Open in 2018 and the US Open at Torrey Pines last year. It was the ninth time he has finished in the top five at a major since he last winning one.

The loss on Sunday, in which McIlroy had a four-shot lead at the start and a three-shot cushion at the turn, might end up stinging the most.

“[I’m] disappointed, obviously,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, I felt like I didn’t do much wrong today, but I didn’t do much right, either. It’s just one of those days where I played a really controlled round of golf. I did what I felt like I needed to just apart from capitalizing on the easier holes — around the turn … 9, 12, 14. If I had made the birds there from good positions, it probably would have been a different story .

“But, look, I got beaten by a better player this week. Twenty-under par for four rounds of golf around here is really, really impressive playing, especially to go out and shoot 64 today to get it done.”

Again, most of the galleries were behind McIlroy. Smith and everyone else probably felt like underdogs compared to him. But the Rory roars never came on Sunday.

Playing one group behind Smith, McIlroy made a birdie on the par-4 10th to move to 18-under. He didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way.

McIlroy narrowly missed birdie putts of 14 feet on the 12th before almost sinking a 61-footer on the 13th. McIlroy didn’t take advantage of the par-5 14th. His second shot from 248 yards was short of the green, so he putted from the fairway to 18 feet. Another near-miss left him with a disappointing par. McIlroy also had close misses from 28 feet on No. 16 and 22 feet on No. 17.

“Yeah, I’ll rue a few missed sort of putts that slid by,” McIlroy said. “But it’s been a good week overall. I can’t be too despondent because of how this year’s went and this year’s going. I’m playing some of the best golf I’ve played in a long time. So it’s just a matter of keep knocking on the door, and eventually one will open.”

McIlroy finished in the top 10 in each of the four majors this season. He finished second at the Masters, eighth at the PGA Championship and tied for fifth at the US Open.

“Yeah, obviously, with not just his results this year, but he’s come awfully close and really well played this year,” said Hovland, who finished in a tie for fourth at 14 under. “But at the end of the day, he keeps playing the way he’s doing, he’s going to get one pretty soon, I think at least. Still, yeah, it’s tough. You’ve got to finish it off.”

Golf’s next generation is good

Smith, 28, is the sixth straight winner of a major by a player who is in his 20s. Matt Fitzpatrick (27) won the US Open, Justin Thomas (29) won the PGA Championship and Scottie Scheffler (26) took the Masters. Last year, Collin Morikawa (25) won The Open and Jon Rahm (27) took the US Open.

If you take out Phil Mickelson’s unexpected victory at the 2021 PGA Championship, in which he became the oldest major champion at 50 years old, it would be seven in a row. Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters at 29.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, players in their 20s haven’t won six consecutive majors since 1921 to 1923, when Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Arthur Havers and Bobby Jones combined to do it.

Cameron Young is for real

For much of the week, with so much attention on McIlroy and Woods, you might have barely noticed that PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young was in contention. But the golfer from New York shot under par in each round, including a 7-under 65 on Sunday. He had an eagle on the par-14 18th to grab solo second at 19 under.

After finishing in a tie for third at the PGA Championship, Young is only the second player since Morikawa to finish in the top three in his debut in those events. Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park and the 2021 Open at Royal St. George’s.

“It probably hurts a little worse to come up one shot short,” Young said. “If you lose by eight you don’t really care. But, yeah, I played well [on Sunday]. I would have signed up for 65 this morning. And to watch Cameron shoot what he did, it was pretty amazing.

Is St. Andrews too easy?

The R&A knew that St. Andrews, the “home of golf,” would be vulnerable to advanced equipment and the best players in the world, especially if the wind wasn’t blowing hard off the North Sea.

The wind didn’t blow much during the final two rounds, so the scores were very, very low. Smith’s 20-under total is the lowest for an Open at St. Andrews. The average score was 71,619. There were 929 birdies and 29 eagles.

“I think we definitely are hitting it too far for the course, probably, if I had to guess,” Xander Schauffele said. “Maybe it’s just too firm. I’m not too sure, to be completely honest.

The R&A tucked the pins as well as it could, but it didn’t seem to make too much of a difference.

“The way they made it difficult was a little tricky in my mind,” Schauffele said. “Some of those pins they tucked — I mean, if you’re on the correct side, you’re going to have 30 feet, 40 feet. But if you try to hit it close and you get a little greedy like I did [Saturday]there’s no grass on top of some of those slopes.

“[Sunday] it was a lot of softer. The ball was kind of staying on the ground. [Saturday] there was no friction. Almost felt like a USGA event back in ’15 or ’16.”

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — The 150th edition of The Open might very well end up going down as one of the best ones in its storied history, depending on what happens on the Old Course at St. Andrews on Sunday.

Seven of the top 12 players in the Official World Ranking are within 8 shots of the co-leaders, Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy, who are 16 under and have a 4-shot advantage going into the final 18 holes.

There are plenty of storylines: McIlroy will attempt to end an eight-year drought without a major. Hovland, Cameron Young, Cameron Smith, Si Woo Kim and Tommy Fleetwood will be chasing their first major victories. Scottie Scheffler, who is 5 shots back, will attempt to put a bow on one of the greatest seasons in golf history. US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick will try to win a second straight major.

Are we headed for a shootout between Hovland and McIlroy in the final round, or will the Old Course finally show its teeth and allow others back into the mix?

“I don’t know,” said Hovland. “There’s a lot of things that can happen. In these conditions and these pin placements, you can play fine and shoot around even par, and then that brings in a lot of other guys as well. So it just depends what the conditions are going to be like [Sunday]the pin locations, and just frankly how we play.”

Who’s going to win the Claret Jug on Sunday? Here’s why the top contenders will win and why they won’t:

Why he can win: Hovland, who learned to play golf in an indoor facility in Norway, is one of the most talented young players in the world. The 24-year-old has already won twice on the European Tour and three times on the PGA Tour, including the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in November. He is the first Norwegian player to hold a lead or co-lead after a round at a major.

“I don’t think there’s any other place that would top it,” Hovland said. “Growing up in Norway, I always watched the Open Championship for way longer than I ever did, for example, the Masters. Yeah, to win a major that’s closest to home, that would be really cool.”

Hovland drives the ball extremely well and is a great ball striker. He came into the week ranked 10th on tour in shots gained: approach the green. He hit 44 of 54 greens through the first three rounds at the Old Course. Hovland also is becoming a better putter; he made putts of 38 feet, 42 feet and 19 feet during a streak of four straight birds on Saturday.

Why he can’t win: As talented as Hovland is, he hasn’t been great in the majors, albeit in limited opportunities. He doesn’t have a top-10 finish in his past eight major starts as a pro. His best finish in a major is a tie for 12th, which he did as the low amateur at the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach and in last year’s Open at Royal St. George’s.

As good as Hovland’s putter has been lately, will it hold up under pressure? And what about the rest of his short game? His chipping has been atrocious during the early part of his career. He came into the week ranked 204th in shots gained around the green. Will it bite him during the final round?

Why he can win: Outside of Scheffler, McIlroy might be the best player in the world this season. He has won twice on tour and finished in the top 10 of each of the first three majors for the first time in his career, including a solo second at the Masters. He drives the ball as well as anyone and is putting the ball at a world-class level.

Even though McIlroy hasn’t won a major in nearly eight full seasons, he has been exceptionally good on the weekends of majors. Yes, some of his success came when he was out of contention and back-doored his way into top-5 finishes. Still, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, McIlroy is 33 under in the final round of majors, best by any golfer in the Masters era. He’s going to have most of the gallery behind him on Sunday, and it feels like it’s finally McIlroy’s time again.

Why he can’t win: How many times have we been here before? There have been 30 majors played since McIlroy won his latest one, the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. Twenty-two golfers have won majors during that span, but not McIlroy. Can he finally avoid the disasters that have derailed his chances in the past?

Why he can win: The PGA Tour rookie has looked like he belonged since his second start of the season, when he tied for second at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Since then, Young tied for second at the Genesis Invitational and tied for third at the PGA Championship. He already has five top-10s in his first 20 starts. Clearly, the New York product isn’t afraid of the big stage.

Young, who played at Wake Forest, is one of the longest hitters off the tee on tour. He averaged a whopping 369.6 yards per drive on Saturday. His iron play has also been better this week, too. He led The Open field in shots gained: tee to green by more than a stroke in each of the first two rounds.

Why he can’t win: Young is playing in his first Open — at the “home of golf” no less. Can there be any more pressure than that? It’s not that first-timers never win The Open in their debuts; Collin Morikawa did at Royal St. George’s last year. But it has happened only 10 times in 150 years, and Young is a rookie.

Why he can win: Smith loves birdie fests (his 34-under total at the Sentry Tournament of Champions is evidence) and no one on tour has been better at converting birdie chances than him this season. He has also performed well under pressure. When Smith won the Players in March, he had eight one-putts in the final nine holes to put it away.

The Australian is one of the best putters in the world, and his flat stick was red hot through the first two rounds. He made an incredible 253 feet of putts when he shot 8-under 64 in the second round. Even though Smith missed more than a few opportunities in the third round, he won’t be lacking in confidence on Sunday. It’s obvious he does n’t fear much, considering his shirt selection on Saturday.

Why he won’t win: As good as Smith’s putter was over the first 36 holes, it wasn’t very reliable at all on Saturday. After needing only 28 putts in each of the first two rounds, he needed 35 in the third. Smith missed a 5-footer on the very first hole and made a bogey. He never got anything going from there.

Just like his tee shot at the 12th hole in the final round of the Masters, which splashed into Rae’s Creek and resulted in a triple bogey, you have to wonder if Smith’s double bogey on No. 13 on Saturday might have cost him another chance at his first major victory.

Why he can win: In its 150-year history, The Open has produced some pretty unexpected champions, including Ian Baker-Finch (1991), Paul Lawrie (1999), Ben Curtis (2003) and Todd Hamilton (2004). Who would certainly fit the bill, given his recent form and history in majors.

Give the South Korean player credit, though. He is imaginative and has some guts. On Saturday, he hit a fabulous flop shot from on the green on the Road Hole and saved par. He’s a three-time winner on tour, so it’s not like he has never won before.

Why he can’t win: It’s probably asking too much of Kim to put together a round that would take down the best players in the world.

Who picked up his third PGA Tour victory at the American Express in January 2021, but he hasn’t done much this season. He has one top-10 finish in 24 starts, at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October, and had missed the cut in each of his past three starts. He has never had a top-10 in 22 major starts and had missed more cuts (11) than he had made (10).

Why he can win: Scheffler is the No. 1-ranked player in the world and has won more than anyone else this season. He had never won on tour coming into 2021, but then he picked up four victories in six starts this spring, including the Masters. He tied for second in the US Open.

Scheffler is even-keeled and seems unfazed by pressure. If he wins the Claret Jug, he’ll be the author of one of the greatest seasons in golf history. Only four other players have won five times in a single season, including the Masters and The Open: Ben Hogan in 1953, Arnold Palmer in 1962, Tom Watson in 1977 and Tiger Woods in 2005. That’s some elite company, and that’s how good Scheffler has been over the past five months.

Why he won’t win: Is Scheffler too far back? The biggest Open 54-hole comeback came in 1999, when Lawrie rallyed from a 10-shot deficit. Unfortunately for Scheffler, Jean van de Velde isn’t ahead of him on the scoreboard. Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els came back from 6 shots back in 2007 and 2012, respectively.

“Guys are pretty good at golf,” Scheffler said. “There’s a lot of talent out here and I’m hanging in there. Outside of a few putts going in [Saturday], I could have been a lot closer to the lead, but that’s how it goes. I hit a lot of good putts out there. They’re just dodging the cup. But looks like I’ll probably be about 6 shots back going into [Sunday]. Never know what can happen.”

Why he can win: DJ is one of the best players in the world and has won 24 times on tour, including two majors. How much talent does he have? On Sunday, Johnson skulled his tee shot on No. 18, one of the most famous holes in golf, but still somehow made birdie. He got as low as 12 under after 12 holes in the third round but made too many mistakes down the stretch. Still, he has the talent to come back if the leaders falter on Sunday.

Why he won’t win: There are 72 holes in The Open.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Rory McIlroy has been chasing golf’s holy grail at St. Andrews for more than a decade. He lost his way in the wind at The Open here in 2010. His mission in 2015 failed before it started because of the ankle injury he sustained playing soccer with friends. This time around his quest could have been lost in the sand, or derailed between a rock and a hard place. But unlike previous attempts, this one is going to plan.

Now, after 54 holes, McIlroy faces one of the biggest rounds of his life.

But the emphasis on the next 24 hours is to ensure that even though he is in a remarkable space in his life, nothing changes. His first concern after finishing Saturday tied with Viktor Hovland for the lead? Finding something to do Sunday morning.

On Saturday, he woke early to watch his Ireland rugby team secure a historic series win over New Zealand.

“I got a little emotional when Ireland won, actually,” he said. “It was an unbelievable achievement for them.”

He then took a nap, got to the course three hours before his tee time, did some gym work, had some lunch. Then he went out and shot 6-under 66.

There’s something about this year as he remains firmly in the mix at St. Andrews, in the 150th playing the sport’s oldest major championship, at a time when those outside LIV Golf have looked to McIlroy as the sport’s voice of reason.

We’ve been here before with McIlroy. Since his last major win in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, he’s had top-five finishes eight times. He himself this week referenced missed opportunities — such as the Masters and The Open in 2018, and again last year at the US Open. He’s bored of being the nearly man, and the key to changing that is staying true to his processes.

“It makes me play better,” he said. “Going all the way back to Augusta in 2011, I got out of my process. I got out of what I did for three days and it was a tough lesson. It was a really tough pill to swallow.

“And I went to [the U.S. Open at] Congressional, and that’s all I focused on all week. I sort of called it my little cocoon, just trying to stay in my little cocoon for the whole week. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do this week as well.”

Horse St. Andrews, he has kept his emotions in check as much as possible – aside from the odd fist pump and chest-bump-awkward-hug with his caddie. He allowed himself a moment Saturday to look at the windows of a nearby hotel where he knew his family would be watching.

“I try to acknowledge as much as I can, but I’m just trying to stay in my process, stay in my own little bubble and I just have to do that for one more day,” he said.

That “cocoon” is the protection of process, patience and pragmatism.

“I’m trying to play with discipline,” he said. “I’m trying to play the percentages.”

But don’t for one minute mistake pragmatism for lack of drama — the man was the draw Saturday. Wherever he went, he had what felt like the whole of St. Andrews hanging on his every putt, chip or clenched fist.

After being 10 under through 36 holes — 3 shots off the lead — he planned to “minimize the danger” ahead of Saturday. After going out in 3-under 33, all was well. And then he approached the 10th. The hole is fittingly named after Bobby Jones. He’s the man who planted the seed of St. Andrews’ significance within the world of golf, saying if a player wanted true fulfillment they needed to win The Open here — leading to McIlroy’s “holy grail” comment earlier in the week. But as he launched a 334-yard drive down the fairway, he fell straight into the Old Course’s trap.

Of the 112 bunkers here, this one lying off the 10th green is less notorious, but still, when you’re watching a player fly around the course, you fear the slightest error could lead to a nose-dive. But a patient McIlroy twice backed off the shot as he navigated the claustrophobia of the course with Cameron Young and Cameron Smith both teeing off from the nearby ninth. On the third approach and the third time the hubbub of the crowd fell to silence, McIlroy blasted to the front of the green and it rolled into the hole for an eagle, triggering a roar to rival anything we’ve heard this week.

That was the box-office moment, but within this round were equally important shots, the sorts that may not make a highlight reel but are the building blocks for major charges. McIlroy said after his first round he was trying to make the “fiddly” side of the sport his “forte” this week — and he needed to produce all sorts of golfing contortion and nuance to keep this round moving in the right direction.

The first instance was at the 11th with his tricky 10-foot putt to save par, which received a fist pump, too. There was the 15th, where his drive found the worst of the rough. Somehow his approach found the green, and his 49-foot putt left him 5 feet for par.

He managed to avoid the infamous Road Hole bunker on the 17th, but he did find himself between a rock and a hard place as his second shot ended up a foot or so from the wall over to the right of the green. He escaped with bogey, though it could have been far, far worse and the dent on his round far greater.

McIlroy came to St. Andrews as the favorite for the Claret Jug, having won two PGA titles this year, at the CJ Cup and the Canadian Open. But his title chances were one of the several narratives here, with few looming larger than Tiger Woods. Woods and McIlroy have grown to be close friends. Before arriving at St. Andrews, the two played Ballybunion in Ireland. McIlroy said earlier in the week he was expecting to see Woods play the full four days here. Instead, as McIlroy waited on the first hole as part of the 45th grouping Friday, he saw the 19th grouping walk up the 18th. Justin Thomas, in the group behind McIlroy waiting to tee off, was there, too. Thomas is another great friend of Woods. The old master managed to hold it together until he looked over and saw his two pals tilting their caps in his direction.

That moment may grow in significance over the next few years, becoming that serendipitous instance when two careers cross — one passing the responsibility to drive the sport forward to the other. But McIlroy only let the emotion of that moment flitter through him for a millisecond.

“It was cool to be on that fairway when that was happening,” he said. “But I was concentrating on my start to the round.”

It was back to the job at hand.

Sunday offers him the chance to end the eight-year wait for another McIlroy major. but he’s not drawing on experience from where he’s gone wrong previously when he’s been in the mix; instead, he’s playing golf until he runs out of holes. There are positive omens for McIlroy. This is the sixth time he has held the lead after 54 holes in a major. Of the five previous instances, he won four of them. And this is now the first time he’s led at a major after 54 holes since 2014 and that triumph at Valhalla.

“I’m not going to take anything for granted,” he said. “I don’t feel like I can fall back in any sort of experience.

“Just like being here before and I’ve done it. But nothing’s given to you and I have to go out there and earn it just like I’ve earned everything else in my career.”

It’s been 32 years since The Open had a British winner at St. Andrews when Nick Faldo won in 1990. Woods made his Open debut here five years after Faldo’s victory and won in 2000 and 2005. This year’s championship offers McIlroy a career-affirming chance.

But above all, it would grant McIlroy peace.

As he walked over the Swilcan Bridge on Saturday, he didn’t remove his cap. It wasn’t time for celebration. He does not yet have one hand on the Claret Jug, let alone two. Until he’s there in the middle of the 18th on Sunday lifting aloft his Holy Grail, he won’t be thinking of anything apart from the next shot and staying in his cocoon.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Cheers from every corner of the Old Course that belonged to Tiger Woods for two days at St. Andrews switched over to Rory McIlroy in The Open, and he certainly did his part to give them what came to see Saturday.

McIlroy holed a bunker shot for eagle on the 10th hole that he described as part skill and part luck, but it was pure magic. He showed discipline to know when to aim away from the flag, and to take bogey when he was stuck between a wall and a road behind the 17th green.

McIlroy now shares the stage at the home of golf with Viktor Hovland, the emerging Norwegian star who was every bit as good in making birds and avoiding the blunders that cost so many other potential contenders.

Both made birdie on the final hole for a 6-under 66. No one else was closer than four shots. They have the same score at 16-under 200, though the support is one-sided.

“They’re chanting his name out there. I think he’s definitely a crowd favorite,” Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said. “How can you not root for Rory?”

McIlroy is one round away from ending eight long years without a major. He wants to stay in his world without ignoring the support raining down on him.

“I think it’s appreciating the moment as well and appreciating the fact that it’s unbelievably cool to have a chance to win The Open at St Andrews,” McIlroy said. “It’s what dreams are made of. And I’m going to try to make a dream come true tomorrow.”

Hovland, already with six victories worldwide in his four years since leaving Oklahoma State as a US Amateur champion, could appreciate the support for McIlroy and all he has done. He played mistake-free and sounded as though he were up for the task.

“I’m going against one of the best players in the world and I’m certainly not going to hold back, because he’s certainly not,” Hovland said.

It wasn’t a two-man race, even if it felt that way as the Old Course emptied and bagpipes began to skirl at the end of the day.

Cameron Smith, who started with a two-shot lead, took double bogey on the 13th hole when he tried a bold play with his feet in a pot bunker. Cameron Young went over the 16th green and then back down the other side for a double bogey on the 16th hole.

They were four shots behind, still in the game. Two-time major champion Dustin Johnson, the best candidate from the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league to claim this major, putted across the green and into a bunker for one of three bogeys on the back nine. He fell six shots behind.

McIlroy and Hovland had no such trouble.

Hovland holed a pair of 40-foot putts on his way to four straight birdies on the front nine to seize the lead. McIlroy finally caught him by holing out from a pot bunker some 80 feet away for eagle on the 10th hole, setting off a roar that could be heard all the way back at the Royal & Ancient clubhouse.

McIlroy only a day earlier tipped his cap to Woods as he started his second round and Woods was on his way to missing the cut, crossing the Swilcan Bridge for what might have been last time. The R&A set the tee times that way so they would pass each other.

Woods stands alone in driving the sport, though McIlroy is the most popular worldwide, and it sounded like that – on the first tee when McIlroy was introduced, for every birdie, and when he took the lead for the first time with a birdie on the 14th.

“I love that I’ve got so much support,” McIlroy said. “But at the same time, I need to keep in my own little world and try to play a good round of golf. Hopefully, that’s enough.”

His lone mistake was coming out of the left rough and over the 17th green, across the road and near the stone wall. He played a safe pitch onto the green and two-putted for bogey.

Hovland, bogey-free for the round, showed off some magic of his own on the 17th by putting off the dirt path just short of the road, up the hill to about 5 feet for a par.

“I’ve never been in a bigger spot in my career,” Hovland said. He sounded up to the task, and the popular Norwegian also saw – and heard – what he will be up against Sunday.

“I get a couple in there,” he said of the cheers so heavily slanted toward McIlroy. “I’m probably an underdog, but I don’t mind that at all. Hopefully, we can push ourselves tomorrow.”

Smith missed a short birdie chance on the 18th and had a 73. His biggest mistake was not getting the ball back in play on the 13th, instead trying to advance the ball and getting into tough spots. He also three-putted from 30 feet to start his round and made just two birdies.

Young, the PGA Tour rookie who finished one shot out of a playoff at the PGA Championship two months ago, had a 71.

Scheffler was lurking after a 69. He missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 16th and then three-putted the 17th for a bogey. Scheffler, who finished one shot behind in the US Open, had a 69 and was five back along with Si Woo Kim (67).

Johnson also within three shots until a bogey on the 13th and another on the par-5 14th, where his long eagle putt raced up a hill, across the green and into a pot bunker. Instead of birdie, he had to scramble for bogey. He dropped two more shots coming in for a 71 and was six behind.

McIlroy last won a major in 2014 at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He would love nothing more than to win at the home of golf, on the Old Course where Jack Nicklaus once said a player’s career would not be complete without winning a claret jug at St. Andrews.

“Every part of my game has felt good this week,” McIlroy said. “I just need to keep it going for one more day.”

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — It might yet be the most important shot of Rory McIlroy’s life. McIlroy, looking to win his first major since 2014 at this weekend’s Open at St. Andrews, raised the loudest cheer from the 52,000-strong crowd when he chipped in for an eagle from a bunker on the 10th hole during the third round.

McIlroy was nicely positioned heading into Saturday, and he continued his charge on moving day with a 3-under 33 on the front nine. The eagle on the 10th propelled him to a tie for the lead with Viktor Hovland.

On the par 4, McIlroy’s 334-yard drive found the bunker directly in front of the green. As he approached his second shot, the claustrophobic nature of St. Andrews’ course layout meant he backed off the ball twice because Cameron Young and Cameron Smith were teeing off from the ninth.

McIlroy then weighed up the shot again and from 27 yards out managed to hole the bunker blast. He emerged from the bunker, gave his caddie a hug and then raised an arm toward the crowd in celebration.

rory McIlroy.#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/ZgVKfXf8ie

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022

Hovland even offered congratulations.

Respect #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/joRSW30Emg

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2022

And the crowd seemed to like it, too.

The reaction from the spectators at St Andrews after Rory McIlroy’s eagle at the 10th says it all.

: @nbc and @peacockTV
: https://t.co/YiRSu9hPWb pic.twitter.com/eh4O0lSey6

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 16, 2022

It was the second eagle on the 10th on Saturday after Shane Lowry managed back-to-back eagles on the ninth and 10th earlier in the day.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tiger Woods cried.

That, according to the 46-year-old with 15 major championships on his résumé, and who used to devour his fellow competitors for lunch like a tiger eats its prey, doesn’t happen very often.

But on Friday afternoon, as Woods approached the famous Swilcan Bridge that leads players over the small burn and onto the 18th fairway, he slowed his walk and doffed his white Nike cap. He then closed out what almost certainly will be his final round as a British Open competitor at St. Andrews.

Woods waved the cap in his right hand to the thousands of spectators packing the grounds articulating their unconditional love through a series of guttural, thunderous ovations.

Woods, playing with reigning US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, was 9-over for the tournament and miles from making the cut to play the weekend on the Old Course, his professed favorite track in the world.

Fitzpatrick and Homa subtly stayed back as Woods approached the bridge alone, the stage cleared for the monumental moment.

When Woods got onto the bridge, there was no ceremonial stop at the top to pause and soak it all in as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson had done before him in their respective final competitive Open Championship rounds at St. Andrews.

“It’s very emotional for me,” Woods acknowledged afterward. “I had a few tears. The warmth and the ovation at 18, it got to me. I’m not one who gets very teary-eyed very often about anything.”

But Woods knows the Open likely won’t be back at St. Andrews until 2030 and he’ll be 53 years old by then.

“I don’t know if I will be physically able to play by then,” he said. “So, to me, it felt like this might have been my last British Open here at St. Andrews.

Woods felt the weight of the moment on 18 when Fitzpatrick and Homa paused to let him walk to the bridge first.

Then, as he walked down the 18th fairway, his good friend Rory McIlroy was on the first fairway and tipped his cap to Woods. When Woods reached the 18th green, Justin Thomas, another one of his closest friends, was just teeing off and also acknowledged the moment with a tip of his cap.

“That’s when I started to thinking about the next time it comes around here, I might not be around,” Woods said. “I understand what Jack and Arnold had gone through in the past.”

Fitzpatrick said the scene “gave me goose bumps,” adding, “It’s something that will live with me forever.”

Woods has won three Claret Jugs among his 15 major championship victories and two of them came at St. Andrews, in 2000 and 2005.

“I’ve been lucky enough and fortunate enough to have won this twice here, and it felt very emotional, just because I just don’t know what my health is going to be like,” Woods said. “I feel like I will be able to play future British Opens, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to play that long enough that when it comes back around here, will I still be playing?”

Woods’ week began with a tee shot that came to rest in a fairway divot on No. 1. He followed that by hitting his approach shot into the burn and taking double bogey. He never recovered and shot 78 on Thursday. It didn’t get much better Friday as Woods, who said on Thursday night he felt he needed to shoot a second-round 66 to make the cut, shot 75.

Woods made it clear that he’s not done with tournament golf.

“I’m not retiring from the game,” he said.

“I didn’t think it was going to be a stop and a ceremonial, ‘I’m done,’ ”Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava told The Post afterward. “I don’t think he thinks that way. I don’t know what he’s going to do next week, but I think in his mind he’s going to play when the tournament comes back here. So, he doesn’t want this to be is the last go-round.”

That Woods didn’t break stride and pause at the crest of the bridge was a sure sign he plans to walk over that bridge again — albeit likely in a ceremonial role next time.

Woods said he has “nothing planned … zero” for the immediate future in terms of playing again.

“Maybe something next year, I don’t know, but nothing in the near future,” he said. “This is it. I was just hoping to play this one event this year [the Open] and I was lucky enough to get three events in. That in itself was something I’m very proud of considering what has transpired [with his February 2021 car crash].

“Life moves on.”

It moves quickly.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — While Tiger Woods made an early and emotional departure Friday at St. Andrews, Cameron Smith can only wonder if the 150th Open will be his arrival as an undisputed elite player.

Smith already won the Players Championship this year and has risen to as high as No. 3 in the world. His 8-under 64 at The Open gave him his first lead in a major, by 2 shots over PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young. Rory McIlroy was lurking another shot behind.

“It’s obviously a really good spot to be in,” Smith said. “I feel like I’ve been in this spot a lot over the past couple of years, and things just haven’t quite gone my way yet.”

Young overcame a few mistakes and closed with a birdie for a 69, putting him in the last group with Smith going into the weekend.

McIlroy got one of the loudest cheers — for a shot, not a farewell — with his 25-foot birdie on the tough Road Hole at the 17th. He missed a birdie chance on the 18th. Still, it was important for him to back up a great start (66) with a solid round (69).

He was tied with Viktor Hovland, who delivered his own thrills by holing out from 139 yards for eagle on the par-4 15th hole and finishing with a birdie for a 66.

Smith was at 13-under 131, the lowest 36-hole score in The Open at St. Andrews.

Even a weekend without Woods, who missed the cut after carding a 3-over 75, is set up for great theater.

Dustin Johnson, who already has a Masters green jacket and a US Open title at Oakmont, played early in the best conditions of the week — light rain that took some of the fire out of the Old Course and then a warming sun — for a 67. He was 4 shots back. Right behind was Masters champion Scottie Scheffler with another 68.

Smith is building a reputation as a great putter, a great weapon to have on the greens at St. Andrews, and he plays without fear. He opened with three straight birds and then began to pull away around the loop at the far end of the course.

He holed an 18-foot putt on No. 7, made birdie from 30 feet on the par-3 eighth and then drove the 10th green and two-putted from some 90 feet for a third birdie in four holes.

The big blow came at the par-5 14th when Smith buried the long eagle putt. He looked as though he’d just rolled in a short one for par. That’s his game. That’s his style.

“I don’t get too excited nor too angry. I like to stay in the middle there,” he said. “A lot of people say that it’s boring to watch. But that’s just how I go about my golf.”

On the other end is McIlroy, among the most dynamic players from his generation. With four major wins early in his career and always a promise for more, he is seen as one of the better candidates to fill at least some of the void when Woods isn’t around.

Woods wasn’t he only early departure. Collin Morikawa became the first defending champion to miss the cut since Darren Clarke in 2012. Phil Mickelson missed out on the “Celebration of Champions” exhibition on Monday, the champions’ dinner on Tuesday and the weekend. He missed the cut for the third straight time in the British Open.

For now, McIlroy is trying to add his name to among the greats who have won an Open at St. Andrews. He has finished in the top 10 in the previous three majors this year. He won the Canadian Open last month. He feels he has been playing consistently well.

It would be easy to assume, given his experience in majors, that he’s right where he wants to be. But that starts with Smith, who already this year took down the No. 1 player (Jon Rahm) at Kapalua and the strongest field in golf at the Players Championship.

“I just need to go out and play my game and play my golf over the next two days, and that’s all I can do,” McIlroy said. “Cam Smith goes out and shoots another two rounds like he did the first two days, I’m going to have a really hard time to win the tournament. So I’ve just got to go out and do the best I can and worry about myself, and hopefully that’s good enough.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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st. Andrews, Scotland — Amid the chaos lies the winner of the 150th Open. The concoction of contenders at the top of the leaderboard combines players at different stages of their careers, and with mixed expectations and urgency.

There are those looking to end a long wait without a major, or for the world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler — who’s in a blockbuster pairing with Dustin Johnson on Saturday — he’s chasing a further feat in an already remarkable season. Then there are the home hopes, the first-timers and the group of LIV golfers looking to crash the 150th Open celebrations.

In short — predicting a winner of The Open has rarely been this difficult, or this is exciting.

st. Andrews has seen some fine battles over the years — and there are reminders everywhere from tales of yesteryear on this famous course of the narrow margins between golfing ecstasy with a spot among the greats and those infamous near-misses.

With the greatest respect, no one wants to be grouped with a Doug Sanders or a Costantino Rocca come Sunday — those were the poor players who saw victory ebb away at the vital moment when they had one hand on the Claret Jug.

Before the tournament started, Rory McIlroy said it would be “better for the game” if the winner was not from the LIV breakaway series. The CEO of the R&A, Martin Slumbers, tried to stay diplomatic in his pre-tournament news conference Wednesday when asked whether he agreed it’d better if he wasn’t handing the Claret Jug to someone from that group of players, saying: ” Whoever wins on Sunday is going to have their name carved in history. And I’ll welcome them onto the 18th green. This is a golf tournament.”

But this closely followed him earlier saying LIV was “harming the perception of the sport.”

Those who joined the LIV series have surely heard and read the comments (though most are adamant they haven’t, including Sergio Garcia, who said Friday, “I don’t know how to read anymore”).

Of the 24 LIV players here, two are near the top of the board. Talor Gooch — who is 6 shots off the lead — said the criticism has galvanized them as a group.

“Everybody, it feels like, is against us, and that’s OK,” Gooch said. “Like you said, it’s kind of banded us together, I think.”

Johnson, in fifth place and just 4 strokes behind, was less committal.

“I wouldn’t know what you were saying or if there was anything negative being said,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to it.”

It would be fascinating to see how the sport reacts if the man holding the Claret Jug come Sunday is from that batch of players.

But those in the R&A clubhouse may be keeping their fingers crossed that the winner will be someone not involved in LIV. There are plenty of contenders, such as Cameron Smith and Patrick Cantlay, who won’t want to be known as among golf’s nearly men.

It’s been 29 years since there was an Australian winner of The Open. Ironically, that was Greg Norman, who also happens to be the CEO of LIV Golf and who was not invited to this week’s celebrations despite having won this event twice. Still, you wouldn’t know there’s any pressure on Smith’s shoulders, despite him setting an Open record at 13 under after two rounds (beating the previous mark of 12 under by Nick Faldo, Norman and Louis Oosthuizen). He’s far more eager to talk about bingeing through “Peaky Blinders” or trying to catch up with how his Maroons are doing in the rugby league’s State of Origin.

But there’s an expectation around him after his triumph at the Players Championship, and his entire game is perfectly tuned to dance around the 112 bunkers on the Old Course.

“I think being off late [Saturday] afternoon it’s obviously going to be a bit firmer … so I would say it’s going to be pretty brutal out there,” Smith said. “I think there’s going to be a few more gnarly pins, and I think being smart out there is definitely going to be the key to staying at the top of the leaderboard.”

Smith says he’s playing the best golf of his life this year. Cantlay is coming off the best year of his. He’s ranked fourth in the Overall World Golf Ranking and has added a win to the three he scooped a year ago when he took the FedEx Cup and PGA Tour Player of the Year honors. In his own understated way, he says he’s in a “good spot” ahead of the weekend and says he will continue “playing off trouble” over the next two days.

You can also add Viktor Hovland — who’ll play alongside McIlroy on Saturday — to those looking to end their wait for a first major, with the Norwegian in the mix at 10 under after his second-round 66, which included a spectacular eagle on the 15th.

But lurking at 8 under is the world’s best player and the reigning Masters champion. A triumph here for Scheffler would add his name to the elite club of those who have scooped two majors in a year. That would also make it five tournament wins and there is still time left on the golf calendar. If he’s at the top of the leaderboard come Sunday, he’d become just the fifth to achieve that feat, joining Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer. For someone who reckons he’s not “perceived” as the world No. 1 — that would be some going for the man who spent the buildup to this tournament watching YouTube videos of former winners to glean any little hints on how best to tame the Old Course.

Britain’s Matt Fitzpatrick is also chasing his second major this season, having taken the US Open last month. He is 6 under after the first two rounds, having been level after the first, and is certainly improving as the week goes on. He was playing alongside Woods on Thursday and Friday. Amid the frenzy around their grouping, Fitzpatrick flourished on Friday.

“I feel different,” Fitzpatrick said, referring to the confidence that comes with just having won a major. “I can compete, and I can win. [Winning a major] doesn’t hold me back. It’s not something I’m nervous about. I’ve got to show myself a bit more. Yeah, it’s just given me that extra confidence.”

His fellow countryman Tyrrell Hatton doesn’t lack for confidence either. Though he’s kept a lid on his rambunctiousness this week – there have been no club-bending antics, though he did throw a ball into the burn Thursday – he sits at 8 under and firmly in the mix.

But the main hope for many in the crowd is McIlroy.

Sheila Walker, Old Tom Morris’ great-great granddaughter, is hoping for a British winner this week. It’s been a 22-year wait since they had one here at St. Andrews in The Open, harking back to Faldo’s triumph in 1990. And many fancied McIlroy to be the man to end that wait. After his impressive, judicious 6-under 66 on Thursday, he posted 68 on Friday to sit neatly in third.

“I felt pretty much in control of everything,” McIlroy said.

It’s been eight years since McIlroy won a major. He came here playing some wonderful golf. How he’d love to end the wait here and exorcise those demons from seven years back when he missed coming to St. Andrews as the defending Open champion after having injured himself playing football in the buildup.

“I just need to go out and play my game and play my golf over the next two days and that’s all I can do,” McIlroy said. “Cam Smith goes out and shoots another two rounds like he did the first two days, I’m going to have a really hard time to win the tournament. So I’ve just got to go out and do the best I can and worry about myself. hopefully that’s good enough.”

When it comes to long waits, Adam Scott is in the same boat here, having last won a major in 2013, but he too is in the mix at 7 under. He also wants to lay to rest some previous pain, having dropped a 4-shot lead with four holes remaining in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St. mother.

“Anytime I think about letting one slip through my hands, it hurts,” Scott said Friday. “And it would be exciting if I shot a really great round [on Saturday] to tee off with a legitimate feeling that I’m in contention, not only for the fact that I haven’t really been in that position for a major for a little while, but also for the fact that I’ve had one on this jug, I feel like, and I’d like to put two on.”

As ever, there are those who were at slightly longer odds heading into The Open. This competition has a fine record of surprise winners, so Cameron Young and Sahith Theegala both have a chance. Young is alone in second, two shots back and playing alongside Smith in the final pairing on Saturday. Theegala is tied for eighth and six shots back.

“It’s obviously a special place for golfers, especially competitive golfers playing one of our greatest championships on one of our oldest, greatest golf courses is a lot of fun,” Young said. “But I’ll be head down, trying to just do my job the next few days.”

Lurking a little deeper is Xander Schauffele (5 under) and Jordan Spieth (4 under). Neither is out of it with so much golf still left to be played.

One of the local takeaway shops here has a “Munch Box” — it’s basically a mixture of everything in one, ideal for those who have a hard time deciding what to go for. And this weekend’s leaderboard is of Munch Box proportions.

st. Andrews is a place of golfing fairy tales. Some of the world’s best have waved goodbye to the championship on the Swilcan Bridge. There are those who had their careers made here. Some have said the sort of heartbreak from which their careers never recover.

Whoever tops that leaderboard Sunday will have kept their nerve and navigated each of the Old Course’s championship-ending dangers. As it says above the grandstand on the 18th, “Everything has led to this.” But the sheer unpredictability of this championship means no one truly knows exactly where this story will lead and what the outcome will be by Sunday evening.

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It took a lot of work to get Tiger Woods to the first tee at The Open. Months of rehab after his car crash to get him back to competitive golf. Hours of effort from him and his team after rounds. Time off after he had to withdraw from the PGA Championship and skip the US Open. But he’s here.

Now, it’s going to take a lot of work for him to stay the weekend.

After a dismal opening-round 78, Woods has to go low in the second round to have any chance of making the cut at St. Andrews.

Here is how his evening at the Old Course is going.

This is what Woods will be facing on Friday. He’ll need to figure it out and post something in the 60s if he wants to see Saturday and Sunday in Scotland.

Pin positions for Round 2 of #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/KcAt1ZxZwJ

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2022

no. 1: Par 4, 375 yards

The first hole at St. Andrews is much easier when the opening tee shot doesn’t land in a fresh divot. Woods ‘tee ball on Thursday found a divot, his second went in the burn and he walked off a dreadful double-bogey. No divot on Friday, and things went much smoother. A safe approach to the green and better speed with the putter led to an uneventful par.

Score: par

Total for the day: even

Total for the tournament: 6 over

no. 2: Par 4, 452 yards

Woods, walking with his hands in his pockets and shoulders tense, appears to be cold on a chilly morning in Scotland. Early in his round, though, his swing seems free. A solid drive and a controlled iron approach gave him a good chance at birdie. But the 20-footer lipped out. Some of those — a lot of those — are going to have to go in if Woods is to make the cut.

Score: par

Total for the day: even

Total for the tournament: 6 over

no. 3: Par 4, 398 yards

Although he had just 101 yards in for his second shot, Woods was not messing around with a front-left, tucked pin at third. He played away from the hole and faced a 25-footer for birdie. The putter, which caused him all kinds of problems on Thursday, is working so far on Friday. He made the putt to get into red numbers for the day.

Tiger has finally got one to drop#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/4PyYIo7Ovs

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2022

Score: birdie

Total for the day: 1 under

Total for the tournament: 5 over

no. 4: Par 4, 480 yards

Woods hated his second shot. How do we know? Well, he slammed his club into the ground while the approach was still in the air. It would not be the last time he was upset on the hole. A solid putt from off green left him with a little 3-footer for par. He missed it.

Score: bogey

Total for the day: even

Total for the tournament: 6 over

no. 5: Par 5, 570 yards

Woods hit a towering 3-wood into the green. The ball settled about 6 feet from the pin. One problem: It was the wrong pin. The fifth is one of the double greens on the Old Course. It is shared with the 13th. So Woods’ ball bounded onto the green and just kept going. When it finally stopped, it was 7 feet from the 13th hole but 117 feet from the fifth. The ridiculously long eagle putt came up 10 feet short. The more manageable birdie just missed on the left side.

Only at St Andrews… #The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/F5Jl1X4hrS

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 15, 2022

Score: par

Total for the day: even

Total for the tournament: 6 over

no. 6: Par 4, 414 yards

Woods has moved around well on his surgically repaired right leg during his time in Scotland. But a grimace and the most pronounced limp of the week came after his wayward tee shot ended up in one of the many fairway bunkers. He had no chance to reach the green and simply pitched out. By the time it was all over, he put another bogey on the scorecard.

Score: bogey

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 7: Par 4, 371 yards

Woods got rid of the jacket, with the spitting rain subsiding after a dreary early morning. His game, though, did not brighten. He had just 97 yards left for his second shot but hit the wedge on the wrong side of the slope to leave a longer-than-he-wanted birdie putt.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 8: Par 3, 187 yards

For perhaps the first time all round, Woods played a routine, boring hole. He found the middle of the green. He narrowly missed a 30-footer for birdie. A ho-hum par.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 9: Par 4, 352 yards

There was a lot of standing around on the tee as play backed up. Woods’ drive settled just short and right of the green. Then the problem that has plagued him over the first 27 holes of this major championship appeared again. Woods has had trouble judging the speed when he has putted or played pitch shots from around the green. His effort at the ninth came up woefully short. Instead of a makeable birdie putt, he had another 25-footer — which he missed.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 10: Par 4, 386 yards

Woods started what will likely be his last nine holes of competitive golf for a while with a routine par. Fairway hit. Center of green. Drama-free two-putt.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 11: Par 3, 174 yards

Woods had been cautious with approach shots for most of his second round. He seemed content aiming for the center of the green. Well, he went flag-hunting at the 11th. But the tee shot fell short and tumbled into the big pot bunker. Woods, though, blasted it out to 12 feet and made the putt for an improbable par.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 13: Par 4, 465 yards

Woods just cannot figure out the green speeds. His second shot into the green took a huge bounce, leaving him with a 40-footer for birdie. Once again, he left the putt way, way short. He made the 6-footer for par, but it was, again, a lot more work than it needed to be.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 14: Par 5, 614 yards

Normally, Woods would have probably felt good about a 370-yard drive, even if it ended up in the hay next to the fairway. That is, until he compared it to what he did the day before, when he pummeled one 412 yards. On Friday, his second shot found another of St. Andrews’ famous bunkers. He turned that 412-yard drive on Thursday into a birdie. He could not do the same with the 370-yard blast on Friday.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 15: Par 4, 455 yards

Another hole, another long birdie putt. This one came after Woods skipped a short wedge approach well past the hole. He almost holed the 77-footer, but it came up a roll or two short.

Score: par

Total for the day: 1 over

Total for the tournament: 7 over

no. 16: Par 4, 418 yards

The good news? Woods’ mishit iron into the 16th green missed the green, but didn’t go in a bunker. The bad news? His chip shot did. A blast out and another missed led to an ugly double.

Score: double bogey

Total for the day: 3 over

Total for the tournament: 9 over

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