Golf superstar Tiger Woods showed glimpses of his old brilliance in his second round at the Open at Portrush, but ultimately couldn't do enough to avoid the cut as he admitted it was time to take a break from the game.

The 15-time major champion tried to conduct a reclamation job after a disastrous 78 in Thursday's opening round.

That score was registered, in part, because of a niggling back problem that hampered his swing. And while he was able to show significant improvement in his second round of the tournament on Friday, his one-under-par round of 70 still wasn't enough to save him from the cut as he was eliminated from the championship before the weekend.

Woods looked in excellent form early in the round as he hit four birdies in the first 11 holes, but bogeys at the 7th, 17th and 18th holes robbed him of a blistering round and left him underneath the dreaded dotted line.

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"It's more frustrating than anything else because this is a major championship and I love playing in these events," said Woods after his round.

"I love the atmosphere. I love just the stress of playing in a major. And unfortunately, I've only had a chance to win one of them (this year) and was able to do it. But the other three I didn't do very well."

Woods admitted that as the years have gone by he has found the challenge of staying consistent ever more tricky.

"That's one of the hardest things to accept as an older athlete is that you're not going to be as consistent as you were at 23. Things are different," he said.

"I'm going to have my hot weeks. I'm going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments. But there are times when I'm just not going to be there. And that wasn't the case 20-some-odd years ago. I had a different body and I was able to be a little bit more consistent."

With his Open hopes now dead and buried, Woods now said he's turning his attention to the playoff states of the PGA Tour season, but before returning to the course he said he would be stepping away to recharge his batteries ahead of the next chapter of his career.

"I just want some time off just to get away from it," he said.

"I had a long trip to Thailand and then trying to get ready for this event, to play this event, it's been a lot of travel, a lot of time in the air, a lot of moving around and different hotels and everything. I just want to go home."