Woods shoots par again, now six off Open lead

Tiger Woods is going to be sticking around for the weekend after a second straight even-par round at The Open Championship on Friday. With the cut line finishing at 3 over, Woods gave himself some breathing after shooting 71 for a second consecutive day at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. "It was a test, but I have to say that the fairways were a lot easier to hit today," Woods told The Golf Channel. "They weren't as fiery, the ball wasn't traveling as far on the ground." He also is close enough to move into contention with a strong third round. Woods opened Friday's round five strokes behind American Kevin Kisner atop the scoreboard and closed it six strokes back of Kisner and Zach Johnson, who share the lead at 6-under 136. Woods missed the cut at St. Andrews in 2015 and did not play The Open in each of the past two years. This weekend marks the 13th major the 42-year-old has played since 2013. He got into some trouble early, with bogeys on Nos. 3 and 4, but birdied Nos. 5 and 6 to get right back to even. All four holes are par 4s. Another bogey on the par-4 ninth hole sent him into the turn over par once again, but he quickly recovered with a birdie on the 11th and even got under par briefly with another on No. 14. After a bogey on 16, he finished out with pars on the final two holes to go into the clubhouse in a tie for 30th. "We could get after some of these flags, which was nice," Woods said. "Yesterday was a little more defensive, today we could be a little more offensive, which was nice." Woods, still looking for that elusive 15th victory in a major tournament, returned to the PGA Tour in 2018 after recovering from his fourth back surgery. He has finished in the top five three times and in the top 12 five times in 11 events. Woods is making his third appearance at The Open at Carnoustie, where he tied for seventh place in 1999 and for 12th place in 2007. Of Woods' 14 major titles, three have come at The Open: 2000, 2005 and 2006. --Field Level Media