Woods gets stuck in sand, makes two early triples en route to a 77 and will miss the cut at PGA

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — What Tiger Woods really needs is to play more real rounds to get used to hitting important shots in big situations again.

Any chance of that happening this weekend came to an ugly end in three bunkers over the first four holes during the second round of the PGA Championship.

Woods made two triple-bogeys over those four holes Friday on the way to a 6-over 77 that ensured he would miss the cut.

“Just kept making mistakes and things you can’t do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially,” he said.

He finished the second round at Valhalla, the site of his 2000 PGA title, at 7-over 149 and was tied for 135th place as he packed up his things and left. The top 70 and ties will move to the weekend. When Woods walked off the 18th green, he was eight shots behind the projected cut line.

This will be the fifth time he has missed the cut at the PGA, and the first since 2019. It will mark his 13th missed cut at a major since he turned pro in 1997.

After shooting 1-over 72 on the first day, Woods said he was feeling stronger and needed more real-life rounds.

Hopes for that ended quickly.

On the par-4 second, he tried to flop a shot over a bunker from a patch of rain-soaked rough near the green, but the ball went into the sand. He picked the next shot out of that sand, over the green and into another bunker. He made 7.

“The rough grabbed me at 2. No sand in the bunker as well. Just made a mistake there,” he said. “I compounded the problem there at 4.”

On that hole, he tried to finesse a shot just over a greenside bunker, but it hit the top and rolled back in. His first try to get out hit the top of the trap and rolled back in again. That led to another 7. Counting a bogey on No. 3, he played the three-hole stretch in 7 over.

From there, the only question was whether he would break 80 and avoid his worst score ever at the PGA. That remains a 9-over 79 at Southern Hills in 2022.

His worst score at a major came last month when he shot 82 in the third round of the Masters, en route to finishing last among those who made the cut.

This will be the fifth cut Woods has missed to go with two withdrawals since he captured the Masters in 2019 for his 15th career major. That doesn’t include the seven majors he skipped completely since the start of 2021, when he shattered bones in his right leg and ankle in a car wreck.

Despite this disappointment, Woods said he planned to be at the next major — the U.S. Open next month.

“Hopefully everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and I'll be ready for Pinehurst,” he said.

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Tiger Woods chips to the green on the 12th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Tiger Woods chips to the green on the ninth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the sixth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Tiger Woods lines up his tee shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Tiger Woods lines up a putt on the fifth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)