Nice try, Tiger Woods, but 11 off the pace might be too much at U.S. Open

Has a guy 11 shots off the lead ever got so much coverage? Or how about one who was 20 off the pace?

Watching the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black this week has been surreal. Missing was the usual jockeying of position that you normally see on Saturdays because of this rain-jumbled schedule.

The remarkable and delayed second rounds of former U.S. Amateur champ Ricky Barnes (leader at 8-under; 65 early Saturday) and Lucas Glover (who shot 64 to go to 7-under), were pretty much over as NBC began its coverage on Saturday five hours earlier than scheduled.

What we were mostly left with for TV was the anticipated group of major champs Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera and Tiger Woods. Harrington, who was clearly struggling with his swing, probably wished he wasn’t getting so much airtime as he finished at 12-over-par, eight shots off the cut line.

Cabrera and Woods were a little better. They shot 69 in round 2, but they needed to be a few shots better than that after first-round 74s. At 3-over-par for the tournament, they’ve got a lot of players to pass while they hope that the leaders fall back. But with soft greens, that might not happen.

Woods, in particular, just didn’t make the putts we’re used to seeing him make. He had at least a half-dozen make-able putts that he missed. If he made, say, three of them, his chances would be more realistic.

It’s not impossible, but it seems like he was in this position at the Masters, and at the end, it was just too much to make up. We’ll see soon enough.