Tiger Woods isn't going to win the PGA Championship. On Friday, he flirted with missing the cut, shooting a one-under 69 to move to three-over for the tournament. He clearly was battling through pain the entire day, trying to will himself over the cut line. 

But he fought like hell, and golf fans and pundits alike absolutely adored him for it:

He was also in noticable pain Thursday, when he shot four-over and could be seen limping at points on the course. 

"I just can't load it," he told reporters after that round regarding his surgically-repaired and still-recovering right leg. "Loading hurts, pressing off it hurts, walking hurts and twisting hurts. It's just golf. I don't play that, if I don't do that, then I'm all right."

That right leg, injured in a car crash in Feb. 2021, kept him out of competitive play until this year's Masters, where he finished 47th and struggled through the weekend. At those Masters, simply playing was a triumph, and there was no guarantee he would participate in this year's PGA Championship in Tulsa. 

But he chose to play, and on Friday he chose to fight.

And that's the main takeaway from Friday—that even in a tournament where he isn't in contention, the fight and grit he displayed nonetheless made him one of the central figures of the event. 

The golf world, as always, orbits around Tiger.