A short return for Tiger Woods at Congressional

Tiger Woods was back. Just not for very long.

Woods missed a 36-hole cut for only the 10th time on the PGA Tour with a game that showed signs of rust from being out of competition for more than three months. Right when he was poised to make a run, Woods made four straight bogeys on the back nine at Congressional in Bethesda, Md., to end any hopes of playing the weekend at the Quicken Loans National.

He shot a 4-over 75 on Friday and missed the cut by four shots.

It was the first time he missed the cut and saw it as a positive, starting with the fact he could play. He had back surgery March 31 and had hoped to return for the British Open next month. Instead, he played the Quicken Loans National because he felt strong enough, and because it benefits his foundation.

"I came back four weeks earlier than we thought I could," Woods said. "I had no setbacks. I got my feel for playing tournament golf. I made a ton of simple, little mistakes - misjudging things and missing the ball on the wrong sides and just didn't get up-and-down on little, simple shots. Those are the little things I can correct."

Marc Leishman of Australia turned potential bogey into unlikely birdie when he holed out from 127 yards on the par-5 ninth hole on his way to a 5-under 66 and a four-way share of the lead going into the weekend.

Oliver Goss, another Aussie who is making his second pro start, had a bogey-free 66 and joined Leishman at 6-under 136 along with Ricky Barnes (69) and Patrick Reed (68), who already has won twice this year.

Woods was 13 shots behind at 7-over 148. It wasn't the largest 36-hole gap from the leaders in the previous nine times he missed the cut on the PGA Tour. It just looked that way.

Woods took two shots to get out of a plugged lie in a bunker on the fifth hole and made double bogey. He three-putted for par on the next hole and never looked more sloppy than on the short par-4 eighth. He was in perfect position after hitting a big drive, 61 yards from the hole at the right angle. His pitch was too strong and left of the flag, leaving him a downhill chip from the collar. He hit that 7 feet by and missed the par putt.

Even so, the damage came after consecutive bogeys around the turn. His tee shot went into a hazard on No. 11, forcing him to punch out. He hit a wild hook off the tee on the 12th, and his second shot was headed for a bunker until it was suspended in the grass on the lip of the sand. He hit a poor chip from below the green on the 13th. And from the 14th fairway, he missed the green and hit another poor chip.

Four bogeys, no time to recover.

And he didn't sound terribly worried. Woods took encouragement from not feeling any pain in his back, and from swinging as hard as he wanted with his driver. That's what concerned him about playing this week. Turns out it was the two shortest clubs in his bag - the wedge and putter - that did him in.

It was surprising to see Woods go straight from the range to the tee in both rounds. Most players give themselves a few extra minutes in the chipping area.

"The short game was off," Woods said. "I've been practicing on Bermuda grass, and I grew the grass up at my house and it was Bermuda. But come out here and play rye, it's totally different. And it showed. I was off. I probably shout have spent more time chipping over on the chipping green than I did. But that's the way it goes."

Langer takes lead at Senior Players

Bernhard Langer's game is in splendid shape. His driver? Not so much.

Whether the two-time Masters champion can lock down his first Senior Players Championship could depend on how he deals with a backup.

Langer shot a 6-under 64 at Pittsburgh to take the lead at the halfway point of the third major on the Champions Tour, birdieing No. 18 to take a two-shot lead over Bill Glasson and Doug Garwood. Langer was at 11-under 129 as he searches for his first victory at the Senior Players after five top-10 finishes.

Rather than cruising, however, the 56-year-old Langer is wary after noticing the driver he has had in his bag for the last two years had started to rattle after teeing off on 18.

"I'm going "Wow, what's the rattling for?"' said Langer, a two-time winner this season. "And I grabbed the head, it was loose. So something broke inside the screw that holds the shaft in, I think it's broken."

It was one of the few things that went wrong for Langer on a day vulnerable Fox Chapel barely put up a fight. Doug Garwood, tied for the first-round lead, and Bill Glasson were two strokes back. Garwood birdied two of the last three holes, and Glasson had a 64.

Joe Durant, also tied for the first-round lead, was 8 under along with Michael Allen, John Riegger and Mark McNulty. Defending champion Kenny Perry moved into contention at 7 under with a 63, the low round of the tournament so far.

After being allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls during the opening round following several days of rain, players were forced to play it down everywhere but the 14th hole at the 6,710-yard layout.

Wie a shot off lead at NW Arkansas Championship

Michelle Wie didn't let a little thing like a hectic national media tour slow the momentum following her U.S. Women's Open victory last week at Pinehurst.

The former prodigy continued her resurgence on the LPGA Tour on Friday, shooting a 5-under 66 to finish a stroke behind leader Alena Sharp after the first round of the NW Arkansas Championship at Rogers.

Wie spent much of her week leading into the tournament busy on the national morning television circuit, only arriving at Pinnacle Country Club on Thursday.

Following a practice round and 12 hours of much-needed sleep, the most recognizable name on the LPGA Tour shot a bogey-free 66 on the 6,375 yard layout - closing with a birdie on the par-5 18th and upstaging local favorite Stacy Lewis.

"Definitely running on fumes right now," Wie said. "... I think it definitely struck me on the back nine, a little bit tired, but I just was really excited to get out here and start playing again. New York was fun, but it's just fun to get back to playing golf."

Sharp, the Canadian ranked 234th in the world, had only 27 putts in her opening 65, while Mexico's Alejandra Llaneza matched Wie with a bogey-free 66.

The top-ranked Stacy Lewis, who played at the nearby University of Arkansas, was 2 over after four holes before recovering to finish with a 70.