Frustrating season ends for Woods

JOHNS CREEK, Ga., Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A frustrating season ended Friday for Tiger Woods, who missed the cut at the PGA Championship and said he would not try to qualify for the tour's playoffs.

Woods, playing in only his eighth tournament of 2011, shot a 10-over 150 for 36 holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club and missed the cut by six shots.

"I think it's a step back in the sense that I didn't make the cut and I'm not contending in the tournament," Woods said at the conclusion of his second round. "But it's a giant leap forward in the fact that I played two straight weeks healthy."

The former top-ranked player in the world has not won on the PGA Tour since Sept. 13, 2009, when he captured one of the four playoff events en route to the FedEx Cup title.

Ten weeks later Woods was involved in an auto accident outside his home in Florida, an incident that touched off a spiraling series of personal revelations that ended his marriage and put his career on hold.

He did not play during the first three months of 2010, but returned at the Masters and briefly appeared ready to recapture the form that has brought him 14 major championships.

Woods, however, did not win in any of his 13 appearances in 2010 and when he played at the Masters again this year he damaged the knee and Achilles tendon in his left leg.

Since then he has completed only one tournament, last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in which he finished tied for 37th in a field of 76.

Woods, 35, is currently 129th in the FedEx Cup points standings and has to be among the top 125 to earn a position in the series of four playoff tournaments. Only one more event remains in which to gain points for the playoffs -- the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. -- and Woods said Friday he will not take part in that event.

"Now I'll have nothing to do but work on my game," Woods said. "That's going to be good. I have more power now. I'm hitting the ball much further. So it's just a matter of just doing the work."

Woods has an international commitment in November, but almost certainly will not compete in a regular event on the PGA Tour until next year. His winless streak in major championships has reached 14. He needs four more major wins to tie the career record held by Jack Nicklaus.