Tiger Woods set his sights on claiming an improbable fifth US PGA Championship after making the halfway cut at Southern Hills.
Woods looked set for an early exit following a double bogey on the 11th hole of his second round, but played the last seven holes in two under par to qualify for the weekend.
And despite being 12 shots off the lead held by Will Zalatoris, Woods took inspiration from the 63 recorded by two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson on Friday as he planned to climb the leaderboard.
“You can’t win the tournament if you miss the cut,” Woods said after his second round of 69.
“There’s a reason why you fight hard and you’re able to give yourself a chance on the weekend. You just never know when you might get hot. I’ve won tournaments being on the cut number.
“This weekend I’m going to have to go low. It’s going to be different. The wind is going to be coming out of the north. It’s going to be cooler.
“I’m hoping I can shoot a number like Bubba did. That’s where my mind is at right now. I’ve got to do some things physically to get myself there tomorrow and it will be a quick turnaround.”
That was a reference to the pain Woods continues to battle in his right leg following the severe injuries he suffered in a car accident in February last year.
The 46-year-old concedes he will never play a full tournament schedule again, but is determined to contest as many of the biggest events he can.
“I’m not going to be playing a lot of tournaments going forward,” Woods added. “They’re going to be the biggest tournaments. I want to be able to play the major championships. I’ve always loved playing them.
“Coming back here to a place that I’ve had success on, to play against the best players in the world, that’s what we all want to be able to do.
“Fortunately enough, I’m able to somehow do it. I’ve had a great PT (physical therapy) staff that have put Humpty-Dumpty back together, and we’ll go out there tomorrow and hopefully I can do something like what Bubba did today.
“Major championships are hard to win. We’ve seen guys with big leads or have made big comebacks, so you just never know.”
