Tiger Woods' 69-hole cut was a master lesson in the art of the grind.

 Tiger Woods' 69-hole cut was a master lesson in the art of the grind.

 Tiger Woods' 69-hole cut was a master lesson in the art of the grind.

Tiger Woo battled because Tiger Woods fights. He hobbled, clawed, moaned, and grunted—for what? For his own benefit.

Woods had nothing to prove and nothing to gain by making the cut at the PGA Championship and enduring two more agonising rounds. A normal person would have taken a double bogey on the 11th as a not-so-subtle hint: pack it in, guy. Go through the motions, avoid discomfort to the greatest extent feasible, and return to Jupiter in time to sleep in your own bed. Rory McIlroy, for one, would have done it even sooner.

"Looking at him yesterday, if it had been me, I would have thought about dropping out and just going home," McIlroy remarked after losing by two to Woods, in admiration of his playing partner's fight. "But Tiger is unique."

Tiger Woo is a unique individual with an uncanny ability to focus on a single aim. That aim on Friday was to make the cut, dammit. So that's what he planned to do.

Simply put, "you can't win the tournament if you miss the cut," he says.

Friday's one-under 69, which puts Woods at three over for the tournament and into the weekend with a shot to spare, will not be included in any highlight reels of Tiger Woo' best moments. However, it was a true masterclass in the Art of the Grind. As his gait slowed to a tip-toe, sweat poured down his temples, and his ankle swelled—Woods claimed earlier this week that his surgically rebuilt right leg has more stamina than it did at the Masters, but we're still waiting for proof—Woods gritted his teeth and played his final seven holes in two under par to secure two more tee times at Southern Hills.

This wasn't even fairways-green-two-putts golf. Following his double bogey, Tiger Woo one-putted six consecutive greens. There was a 14-footer for par after pulling his approach into a short-sided bunker; an eight-footer for birdie at 13 after carving a wedge around a tree; a 15-footer for par on the par-3 14th; an up-and-in from absolutely nowhere after airmailing the 15th green; a 5-iron to four feet for a birdie on the par-4 16th, which plays as a par 5 for membership; a nervy

"It's really incredible to make the cut at Augusta and make the cut here," McIlroy said. "I was telling (Woods caddy) Joey (LaCava) yesterday that he could have come back and played like Honda and Valspar, two of the flattest courses on tour." It may have been a little easier for him, but he comes to two of the most difficult walks we have. However, he is highly resilient and psychologically robust. To have a front-row seat—feeling he's it on every swing, but to watch what he accomplished on the back nine... it was a massive effort."

As a result, Tiger Woo will return to the weekend. Since his right leg was crushed by an SUV, he has participated in two events, both major championships, and he has made the cut both times. He is still certain that he can win this week. He, of course, does. Realism is seldom one of the all-time greats' strengths.

"I'm hoping to shoot a number like Bubba did today, tomorrow," Woods said, referencing to Bubba Watson's 63. "That's where my thoughts are right now." I need to do some physical things to get there tomorrow, and it will be a rapid turnaround. That is your prize for just making the cut. You get to tee off early the following day, and perhaps I'll be able to join you. The weather is predicted to be a bit more tough and testy, and hopefully that will be the case. If that's the case, perhaps I can have a decent round and climb up the leaderboard enough to be within striking distance on Sunday.

"I'm a long way back, but you never know." Major titles are difficult to win. We've seen men blow enormous leads or make huge comebacks, so you never know.

Regardless of his opinion, Tiger Woo will very definitely lose this week, which will irritate him. He's also plainly annoyed by how his leg feels after claiming earlier in the week that he'd made tremendous progress in the previous month. That's not to dismiss his self-assessment; the leg did feel better on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and maybe even Wednesday. It started screamin' on Thursday, and as I watched him inch up Southern Hills' one decent slope, the term "progress" didn't spring to me.

However, Friday's round was not about progressing toward Brookline or St. Andrews. That is not how Tiger Woo' thinking works. He has tunnel vision all of the time. After all of this, it's the reason he's in Oklahoma this week. And it's the reason he's staying a couple more days.