Woods will need record-tying effort to pull off 15th major win

The biggest 36-hole comeback in U.S. Open history is 11 shots. Guess how far back Tiger Woods is? He's hitting the ball well enough to rally, he says, but needs his putting to improve.

By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com Interactive Producer

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- If Tiger Woods is going to become the first player since Curtis Strange two decades ago to win back-to-back U.S. Opens, he’s got a lot of work to do.

Woods finally completed his second round at Bethpage Black at around 3 p.m. on Saturday with a 1-under 69. That put him at 3 over for the tournament and 11 shots behind former U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes, who leads at 8 under after stellar rounds of 67-65--132, good for a 36-hole U.S. Open scoring record.

“The putts I hit well didn't go in,” said Woods, who had 30 putts in Round 2. “And the putts I hit poorly weren't even close.     The frustrating thing is you have to hit the putt so hard; then you don't want to give it a little too much and run it past the hole, because you know how bumpy it is coming back. You want to leave yourself those putts.
   
“It's hard to make yourself hit the putts that hard considering this is a U.S. Open.  Generally they're pretty quick.  The last time we were out here on Long Island, they were really fast, but it’s one of those things you have to make the adjustments,” he added. “And as I said, we were playing along today, the greens kept getting slower and slower, and you have to make the adjustments.”

If Woods can pull off an improbable win for his 15th major title -- and he’s going to have to get some help from that quiet putter -- it would tie for the largest comeback after 36 holes in U.S. Open history. In 1975 at Medinah, Lou Graham overcame a 36-hole, 11-shot deficit to win his first and only major championship.

“I'd like to,” Woods said when told he was right on the number to match the largest 36-hole comeback in tournament history. “There's no doubt. I'm hitting it well enough. I just need to obviously make a few more putts. And get it rolling.”

The biggest rally Woods has ever mounted after 36 holes at a major came when he was six shots behind at the 2005 Masters before eventually beating Chris DiMarco in a playoff (Woods did lead by three after 54 holes).

Woods, like half the field, has been behind the 8-ball from the word go. Playing as a part of the early/late draw, Woods was one of many players who had to endure the brunt of the weather before play was suspended in Round 1 on Thursday.

The weather really didn’t clear up until after Woods finished his first round on Friday morning. That gave way to ideal scoring conditions for those with late first-round tee times -- like Barnes -- and many players took advantage.

Even still, Woods wasn’t making excuses.

“We've done it before,” he said about dealing with the weather. “We've played so many years out here on TOUR, it is what it is.  It rains.  You're called off.  You're pulled back in.  You get ready, go back out.  No lightning, I think we'll continue playing.”

Barnes was able to keep the momentum from his opening 67 as he turned right back around to begin his second round on Friday evening. Woods didn’t have that luxury. Instead, he had to wait until late Saturday morning to venture out in misty conditions to embark a day late on his second round.

“Today I made a bogey on the last hole,” he said. “But, still, yesterday was the day that did it.  Especially on my half of the draw, I had to finish at even par, 1 over par at the worst because I think 1 under par is the best my side of the draw did. 

“That would have been a really good score,” he added. “But instead I ended up at 4 over par, and that was about the mean for the day on my side, which is not what it's going to take to win a U.S. Open.  You have to do better than that.”

Overall, Woods said his scores aren’t reflective of how well he’s hitting the ball.

“It is what it is, but you never know. I've got 36 more holes over the next probably three days,” Woods joked. “And it's one of those things where if I keep plugging along just like any U.S. Open, just keep plugging along, make a birdie here and there, and we'll see where it ends up.”