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By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods wasn't about to let a second consecutive frustrating day on the greens at TPC Sawgrass prevent him from having the chance to experience two more potentially frustrating days.

Tiger Woods is nine strokes off the lead heading into Saturday's play. (WireImage)

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In other words, better to be playing in a bit of a funk than not at all.

Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, finally made a few birdies, including a clutch 4-footer at the 16th that at the time put him right inside the cutline, and he kept alive his streak of never missing the weekend at THE PLAYERS Championship. The 2001 champ continued to struggle on the new greens at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, but he somehow managed to post a 1-over-par 73 on Friday to submit a 4-over 148 total, nine strokes behind leader Phil Mickelson.

"It was an interesting day," said Woods, the reigning British Open and PGA champion who last week won his third title of this season at the Wachovia Championship. "I didn't really hit it all that good, certainly didn't make any putts again."

Woods was shut out on birdies Thursday and missed a lot of chances Friday, too, but somehow he found a way to stick around at TPC Sawgrass for the 11th time in as many appearances. Knowing that the par-5 16th was probably his last chance with the two most difficult holes on the course to follow, Woods played aggressively to reach the green in two and then two-putted from 66 feet.

"I definitely could see it because there's a (score)board on every hole on the back nine and it tells you exactly where you stand," said Woods, who in his last 14 rounds at TPC Sawgrass has shot over par nine times. "It looked like 5 (over) might get in, but it wasn't 100 percent sure. So I figured I needed to get to 4 somehow."

As it turned out, 5-over 149 was the magic number after the cut looked entrenched at plus-4 all afternoon. With scoring conditions eased in lockstep with diminishing winds, the field average nearly two strokes better, at 73.387. Still, it took bogeys at the par-4 18th by Scott Verplank and David Toms, playing together in the third-to-last group, to push the cut to 5 over, saving nine others who were sitting on the outside, including U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger, who carded 71 Friday.

Also in the group at 5 over was Bernhard Langer, who despite a 77 made his 20th cut at THE PLAYERS, three behind all-time tournament leader Tom Kite.

Seventy-nine players qualified for the final two rounds at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. Other past champions in addition to Woods who are advancing are Steve Elkington, who shot 71-144, Adam Scott (71-145), and Davis Love III (71-148).

On the other side of the coin, 2002 champion Craig Perks was bidding to make his first cut of the season and turned in 2 under for the day, even for the championship, before unraveling with an inward 42 and 76 that left him two strokes short.

"I was trying to get back in the whole tournament and not just make the cut," said Perks, who was in the last year of his five-year exemption for winning the '02 PLAYERS. "I made some mistakes and I tried the best I could, but I started to unravel. I tried to finish 3-2-4 like I did five years ago, but I couldn't make it happen. It's been an honor to play here, and I'm motivated to getting back into the tournament next year."

Other notables sent packing included defending champion Stephen Ames, who suffered miserably with a 79-156 score, 2005 PLAYERS winner Fred Funk (73-153) and 1998 champ Justin Leonard, who just missed at 72-150. European Ryder Cuppers Paul Casey and Colin Montgomerie also failed to advance.

While Perks stumbled while gamely trying to turn around his fortunes, another struggling player of prominence, former British Open champion Todd Hamilton, made a miraculous rebound from the previous week at the Wachovia Championship. With a birdie at the last after playing his previous five holes in 4 over, Hamilton shot 73-148 for his second cut in 13 starts in '07.

The week prior at Quail Hollow Club he carded a pair of 81s.

"Wachovia was the most lost I've ever been on a golf course," Hamilton admitted after making his first cut since the Buick Invitational in February and his first PLAYERS cut since '04. "It was not good, but I started seeing some good shots in practice, and I actually played pretty well. Still a few mistakes, but it's a good feeling to make the cut here because this is a huge tournament, and you're playing in front of a lot of people, and that gives you something you maybe can build on."