Tiger Woods' Cut Streak: The Record for Making Cuts on the PGA Tour

PGA TOUR - 2005 Target World Challenge Presented by Countrywide - Final Round
Steve Grayson/Getty Images

From February of 1998 into May of 2005, Tiger Woods made the cut in every tournament he entered on the PGA Tour. That streak of 142 consecutive tournaments without missing a cut is the PGA Tour's all-time record for the longest consecutive cut streak.

Woods bested the previous mark of 113 straight tournaments without a missed cut that had been set by Byron Nelson in 1941 to 1948. When Woods' streak finally ended, it happened, coincidentally, at the tournament named after Nelson.

The Origins of Woods' Cut Streak

Woods turned pro in 1996 and 1997 was his first full year on the PGA Tour. Woods missed the cut at the 1997 Canadian Open. The next year, completion of the 1998 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was delayed by rain; it wasn't concluded until months later. Woods choose not to return for the completion. Those two tournaments were the only ones in which Woods failed to play beyond the cut before his consecutive cuts streak began.

And where did the streak begin? The very first tournament in Woods' streak of 142 tournament without missing a cut was the 1998 Buick Open.

Catching and Passing Nelson

Along the way to matching, and then beating, Byron Nelson's record of 113, Woods blew by a few other milestone cut streaks.

First, there was Hale Irwin's 86 in a row, which Irwin compiled from 1975-79. Next up was Jack Nicklaus' 105 tournaments in a row without missing the cut, compiled from 1979-76.

That left only Nelson ahead of Woods. Woods tied Nelson's record at the 2003 Funai Classic, then broke it at the 2003 Tour Championship. That put Woods' streak at 114 in a row without a missed cut.

Yes, the Tour Championship is a no-cut tournament. In Woods' final streak of 142, there were 31 no-cut tournaments. But Nelson's streak of 113 included no-cut tournaments, too, plus some team events.

Even if you subtract the 31 no-cut tournaments from Woods' 142 total, that leaves 111. After subtracting Nelson's no-cut tournaments from his 113, Woods would still beat Nelson.

Where and How the Streak Ended at 142

The last tournament in Woods' seven-year-long streak of never missing a cut was the 2005 Wachovia Championship, which ended on May 8.

His next event was the 2005 Byron Nelson Championship. Woods opened with a 69. In the second round, he was outside the cutline before rallying over the final few holes. When Tiger teed off No. 18, he needed a par to make the cut and keep the streak alive.

He hit a perfect drive, but misjudged the wind on his approach and landed in a bunker. After blasting out, Woods was left with a 15-foot par putt to make the cut.

He missed. The cut was even-par 140, Woods finished at 1-over 141. For seven years, from 1998 until 2005, Tiger Woods never missed a cut. But the streak finally ended at 142 tournaments in a row.

(Trivia question: Who won the tournament where Woods' cut streak ended? Ted Purdy, who had never before finished ahead of Woods in a pro tournament in which they both were entered.)

At the time the streak ended, the next-closest active streak on the PGA Tour was Ernie Els' 20 consecutive cuts. Nobody since then, including Woods, has put together a cut streak reaching 50.