Woods lagging by nine strokes

He struggled to make the cut for his second straight Masters and tournament.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Crouching in the pine straw, trying to avoid the trees, Tiger Woods took a whack at the ball, simply hoping to get it back in play.
He did -- on his way to a double bogey that wound up as only one of his several miserable moments at Augusta National.
His swing still not in sync, his short game not much better, Woods struggled through a frustrating 14 holes over the first round of the Masters on Thursday. He stood at 4-over-par before play was called due to darkness.
"I'm done for today, thanks," was all he offered as he hurriedly left the course.
He was nine strokes behind clubhouse leader Justin Rose -- much closer to the projected cut line than a fourth green jacket. Everyone within 10 strokes of the second-round leader will stay for the weekend.
Another struggle
This is the second straight tournament, as well as the second straight Masters, in which Woods has struggled to make the cut.
Last year, he played 21 holes before he made his first birdie, and needed an up-and-down from a sand bunker on 18 to stay for the weekend. Two weeks ago, he struggled the first day at The Players Championship and was tied for 108th place, but made the cut easily.
After he rallied to finish 16th there, he said he thought his swing -- faltering without the supervision of his ex-coach, Butch Harmon -- was getting better.
If there were any signs of that Thursday, Woods left them on the driving range.
The defining moment came on No. 5, when his second shot hit a mound, and the ball ricocheted into a thicket of bushes. Bending over the straw, gripping down near the blade of the club, he bunted the ball back into play. But the damage was done. He missed a putt that would have saved bogey and stood at 3-over.
On No. 11, Woods hit an approach shot that fed to the bottom of the hill fronting the green. He angrily flipped his club at caddie Steve Williams, who spent the day playing matador, trying to evade all the metal flying his way.
On No. 13, Woods proved it wasn't just his full swing that was hurting. Lying 2 from a small valley on the left side of the green, Woods took out his putter and tried to ram the ball up the hill and toward the hole, 50 feet away. He left himself a 20-footer and two-putted for par, hardly the goal on that par-5 hole.