Nothing but bad news for Woods

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Finally, all the talk about Tiger Woods was mostly about his golf.

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Associated Press
Tiger Woods, who shot 7-over-par 79 on Friday in the Quail Hollow Championship, gets 'thumbs down' signs from two fans in the gallery.
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And it was more bad news.

In a shocking meltdown Friday at the Quail Hollow Championship, Woods missed the cut for only the sixth time in his career with a performance that was incomparable for all the wrong reasons.

He shot 7-over-par 79, his worst score on American soil as a pro and the second-highest of his career. He matched his highest score on nine holes with a 43 on the back nine, and that was with three solid pars on the tough closing stretch. His 36-hole score of 153 was the highest in his 14 years on the PGA Tour.

Rust? Mechanics? Distractions from a personal life in turmoil?

"It is what it is," Woods said. "Whatever it was, it wasn't good enough."

Not even close.

He missed the cut by a whopping eight shots -- and he was 17 shots behind 36-hole leader Billy Mayfair -- and headed back to Florida as speculation mounts that being caught in rampant extramarital affairs has tarnished more than his image.

Making the performance even more surprising is that Woods was coming off a tie for fourth at the Masters Tournament three weeks ago, a remarkable result considering it was his first competition since a five-month hiatus created by his crisis at home.

Woods couldn't make a putt, and he didn't make any excuses about whether his private life is affecting his golf.

"Every day I do media, I get asked it, so it doesn't go away," he said. "Even when I'm at home paparazzi still follow us, helicopters still hover around. Does it test you? Yes, of course it does. Is that any excuse? No, because I'm out there and I have the same opportunity as everybody else here in this field to shoot a good number. And I didn't do it."

Woods is to compete next week at The Players Championship.

Mayfair birdied his last hole for a 68 that gave him the halfway lead at 8-under 136. He led by one shot over two-time major champion Angel Cabrera, who had 67.

Tiger Woods's wife, Elin, makes first public appearance since scandal broke

MIAMI — Tiger Woods's wife, Elin, made her first appearance at a public event Friday since scandal engulfed her husband in late November, visiting the Sony Ericsson Open tennis outside Miami with her son Charlie.

Woods sat with her one-year-old son and watched the game between American Andy Roddick and Spain's Rafael Nadal in club seating wearing large sunglasses, a black top and white trousers.

A witness said she had entered the Key Biscayne tennis centre with two bodyguards and had also watched the late-night women's match on Thursday between Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

Tiger Woods is due to return to competitive golf next week at the Masters in Augusta