American Tiger Woods will hold on to golf's top world ranking for at least another week after number two Phil Mickelson failed to make the cut at The Barclays tournament in New Jersey.
Mickelson has missed several chances this year to overtake Woods as number one. A win at the Barclays would have given Mickelson the top ranking. But a double-bogey on the last hole of the second round Friday put him four shots over the cut off mark to play the remaining two rounds.
Woods' is in danger of losing the number one ranking because he is winless this year after nine tournaments. However, he played well enough through the first 36 holes of The Barclays to make the cut by four strokes.
The Barclays is the first of four playoff tournaments for the PGA's season-ending FedEx Cup series. The series winner receives a $10 million bonus.
Woods won the FedEx Cup last year for the second time in three years, but he entered this year's playoffs ranked a distant 112th in the standings. He must be in the top 100 at the end of The Barclays to be eligible for the second playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.
Woods has struggled through the worst season of his career while dealing with personal problems. He and his wife, Elin, decided to end their marriage after Woods admitted to affairs with at least 12 other women.
On Thursday, three days after his divorce became final, Woods shot a six-under-par, 65 at The Barclays for a share of the first round leaderboard.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.