The opening tournament of the golf season is without some star power after the first cut.
Both Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy missed the cut the Abu Dhabi Championship after shooting a 75 on Friday. Woods shot a second round at 1-over 73, but was penalized two shots after he made a mistake and thought he had a free drop when his ball landed in a bed of vines on hole number five.
"I called Martin (Kaymer) over to verify the ball was embedded. We both agreed it was embedded and evidently it was in sand,'' Woods said to the Associated Press. ''Andy ruled I broke an infraction, consequently got a two-shot penalty. Andy feels the way he feels about it and I broke the rules.''
Woods had thought he was safe after the second round, but he was advised by the European Tour chief referee Andy McFee of the penalty, giving him a 75 and 3-over total of 147. The cut for the top 65 plus ties is projected at 2 over.
McIlroy made an early exit from the tournament after struggling with his new Nike clubs, shooting a second straight 75. According to the Associated Press, "it's the first time the world's top two players missed a cut in the same tournament since McIlroy and Luke Donald at the 2012 U.S. Open."
McFee said he warned Woods on the 11th tee of the penalty, which was a result of his taking a free drop when his ball was embedded in sand. It's not allowed. According to McFee, the rule was clearly stated and Woods did not challenge the ruling after the round. He said it first came up when a spectator alerted the European Tour to the infraction.
''An embedded ball relief is through the green but in ground other than sand,'' McFee said. ''I talked to him when he came off the 11th tee because I couldn't be sure about a two-stroke penalty until we got into the recording area. I don't know the exact spot where he was. I know the area. I would need Tiger to come out and have a look, and he was happy it was in sand.''
The situation was first mentioned to another rules official by Alistair Tait, a writer for Golfweek magazine who happened to be following the group. "I just asked the question,'' Tait said.
According to ESPN.com, the confusion came when Woods thought it was embedded into the sand, which falls under Rule 25-2, which says that no relief is allowed.
"It's just one of these situations that both he and Martin, unfortunately, got that rule wrong,'' McFee said. "Under the rules of the game, on all tours, the embedded ball only applies on a closely-mown area. All tours use the note to that rule which extends it through the green, which means everyone on the golf course except hazards. But it's very specific that rule, and it refers to ground other than sand. Now unfortunately this area, whilst it's got vegetation on top of it, it's just creeping vegetation and sand, as most is the off-grass areas here. Once we had found out what had gone on, we investigated it.''
Woods was frustrated with the result, but understood why it happened. He struggled greatly in the round after hitting four bogeys on his first five holes, but birdied five of the last 11 holes, including three in a row down the stretch to come in at 73.
''It's tough because I didn't get off to a very good start,'' Woods said. ''I fought and got it back. I was right there and felt it if I could post even par, I had the chance to go into the weekend only eight back. Evidently, it wasn't enough.''
McIlroy finished the tournament with a 6-over 150 total, a poor showing for the winner of the European and U.S. PGA money titles in 2012 He shot three bogeys on his first seven holes and by the time he improved by hitting a number of birdies, it was too late top recover.
Woods has missed the cut nine times, including in the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship and the 2011 PGA Championship. From 1997 to 2005, Woods did not miss a cut. The former world No. 1 has not won a major since a historic 2008 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines on a broken leg over Rocco Mediate in a playoff round.
Woods hadn't missed the cut in 22 regular European Tour events, winning eight of those events during that span. Over his career, Woods has won 38 European Tour victories in 117 starts, including 14 major championships, 16 World Golf Championship events and eight regular titles.
"I didn't hit it particularly well,'' he said. "I putted great but just didn't hit it very good. I was struggling with that. I fought hard. I fought hard today. Got off to a bad start and I battled back and got it to where I thought I could play the weekend, and thought I might have a chance, just post two low rounds. But I won't be able to do that.''
According to ESPN.com, Woods is scheduled to make his PGA Tour debut next week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Woods' missed cute came on the same day that an interview aired with Lance Armstrong in which he admitted he doped during his career. The fall of Armstrong is similar to what happened with Woods over the past few years after multiple affairs and other incidents came to light.
Like Armstrong, Woods lost many endorsement deals and eventually divorced from his wife. Woods has not won a major since the scandal came to light and he is expecting to compete for a championship this season.