SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Rain wasn't the only thing that put a damper on the Phoenix Open on Friday.
The rowdiest event on the PGA Tour goes into Super Bowl weekend without Tiger Woods, who had the worst score of his career and missed the cut by 12 shots. Also gone is Phil Mickelson, who had his worst round on the TPC Scottsdale in six years.
Martin Laird carried on nicely without them.
Once the rain stopped, Laird played his best golf, and he doesn't think that was a coincidence. He ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch until making his first bogey of the tournament on his final hole for a second straight 5-under 66.
That gave him a two-shot lead over Daniel Berger (69), with Justin Thomas (68) another shot behind. Both 21-year-old rookies received sponsor's exemptions. A trio of Masters champions -- Bubba Watson (71), Zach Johnson (70) and Angel Cabrera (69) were in the group four shots behind.
Woods walked off his final green with an 11-over 82. It was his highest score in 322 official tournaments in his career.
"We all have days like this," Woods said.
Mickelson had a 76, his highest score in this event since he opened with a 76 in 2009 and missed the cut. Neither are going to the Super Bowl. Mickelson flew home to San Diego, Woods to Florida, and both will meet up next week in Torrey Pines.
It was the first time since The Greenbrier Classic in 2012 that they missed the cut in the same event.
"Hopefully, we will be able to get it turned around for next week," Mickelson said.
Laird would seem to thrive in such wet, chilly conditions based on his birth certificate alone. He was born in Scotland, although he played college golf at Colorado State and has been living in Arizona for the past 14 years. He didn't even play a European Tour event until he had his PGA Tour card.
But living in Scottsdale, surely he has experienced the occasional cold, steady rain like Friday.
"The weather is so good here, when the weather is like this, we don't play," Laird said. "I really don't remember a day where it's just been that kind of drizzle. It was a very Scottish day today. We get rain, but it's not sort of an all-day thing."
Laird was at 10-under 132.
A little further down the leaderboard was another reminder that the sport is in the midst of a generational shift, assuming it hasn't already happened.
Berger and Thomas are proudly part of the class of 2011 -- that's high school, not college.
They often played together as juniors and at college -- Berger at Florida State, Thomas at Alabama. Berger made it through Q-school after two years of college and easily earned his card through the Web.com Tour. Thomas did the same after leaving Alabama.
Not too far back was Jordan Spieth, another 21-year-old who already is among the top 10 players in the world ranking and a Ryder Cup veteran. He scrambled his way to a 68 and was six shots behind. Spieth put on a clinic with his short game playing in the same group as Woods, and it made Woods' shortcomings stand out even more.
Mickelson steadily dropped shots, tried to rally with a birdie on the 15th that put him one birdie away from making the cut and then hit his tee shot in a bunker on the 17th that led to bogey. That bunker wasn't even in play for Mickelson on Thursday, but the weather was such that players were hitting two or three clubs more.
Laird was part of the pack until his late run. He made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th, hit wedge to a foot for birdie on the par-5 15th and then made 7-foot birdie putts on the next two holes to give himself a little separation.
Ryan Palmer (72) and Ryan Moore (67) were in the group at 136, while Geoff Ogilvy (69) was among those five shots behind.
Fifteen players failed to finish the round before darkness. That included Arizona club pro Michael Hopper, who had no chance of making the cut. With two holes to play, he was at 12 over and needed to finish two pars to beat Woods.
And that would be another personal worst for Woods. He has never finished last in a PGA Tour event.