He looked like the Tiger Woods of old.
Wild tee shots sprayed onto opposite holes, bold recovery shots from thick rough, scrambling around the greens for crucial par saves, and all in front of enormous crowds.
But after two rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines near San Diego, Woods made his first cut on the US PGA Tour since August 2015.
Since then, the chronically injured 42-year-old has played just one official US Tour event and last year spent 10 months on the sidelines recovering from spinal fusion surgery.
On Friday, the 14-time major winner backed up his opening 72 with a one-under-par 71 on Torrey Pines' North course, scraping inside the 36-hole cut on the number.
"It was a grind; I fought hard," said Woods.
"It was typical, you know; just me going out there and fighting for whatever I can get," said the man, whose eight wins at Torrey Pines include the 2008 US Open.
Woods sits 10 shots back of leader Ryan Palmer, who shot a 67 to climb to 11 under.
Palmer now takes a one-shot lead into Saturday's third round over world No.2 Jon Rahm (66) - the tournament's defending champion.
A horrible display from the tee saw Woods hit just three of 14 fairways and he spent most of the day hacking the ball out of Torrey Pines' notoriously thick rough.
Woods hit nine of 18 greens but after making the turn at two over, Woods rallied with four birdies and a bogey to advance to the weekend rounds in a tie for 65th.
It is a miracle Woods is under par.
But the California native says it's a sign his ability to score is returning having not played a full-field tournament worldwide since withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic last February.
"I just fought hard, that's something that I've done my entire career and this is no different" said Woods.
"It was tough out there; the greens are firm and some of these pin locations, they're a little tough to get at."
