If you are one of those golf fans who cheer anytime Tiger Woods has trouble, you're in luck. This weekend's final rounds at Torrey Pines find Woods struggling.
It also wraps up without Phil Mickelson, who withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open when his wonky back acted up.
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In his first competition in six weeks, Woods hardly looked the part as the defending champion. He did not make birdie on any of the par 5s for the second consecutive day, and a three-putt bogey on the par-5 ninth hole on the North Course gave him a 71.
Woods began Saturday in San Diego nine shots behind Jordan Spieth, golf's rising young star and his Friday playing partner. Spieth held a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink.
"The kid's got talent," Woods said of Spieth. "He hits it a long way, phenomenal putter. He made a boat load of putts today from the 10- to 20-foot range, and on poa greens, that's not easy to do. He was pouring them in there. He had speed to them, too. That's what you have to do to putt on poa.
"He putted with a lot of confidence."
Torrey Pines is usually a place where Woods succeeds. His eight professional wins there include the 2008 U.S. Open.
Mickelson's return from the European Tour ended Friday night because of muscle pain.
Mickelson shot a 1-over 73 on the South Course in the second round, leaving him eight strokes behind Spieth. Mickelson said after the round that he feared getting into bad habits by altering his swing to keep his back from hurting.
San Diego is his hometown and he said he wanted to keep playing. Now instead of hitting the links Saturday, Mickelson visited doctors to fix his back problem.
Mickelson is scheduled to play next week in the Phoenix Open, for which he is defending champion.
The final two rounds will be on the South, which is about 600 yards longer and on Friday played more than 4½ shots harder.
Given his layoff, was Woods rusty?
"I was just a fraction off, and at this level and on golf courses like this, if you're just a fraction off it doesn't take much, especially as tight as the North Course is," Woods said. "I had so many balls that landed in the fairway that went in the rough. Now I can't be aggressive, I've got to play conservative into some of these flags. When you should be able to fire at some of these flags, I just couldn't."
The cut was at even-par 144, and 83 players advanced. There will be another cut to top 70 and ties after the third round.
Woods wasn't ruling himself out just yet. He remembered the time he made the cut by two shots in 1999, and then had a 62-65 weekend to win by two shots. But that was before the South Course was lengthened. No one had better than 67 the first two days this week on the South.