Tiger Woods has been pretty awful since golf returned after COVID-19 shut down sports world-wide.
Last August, Woods finished tied for 58th at the Northern Trust ad tied for 51st at the BMW. Once again, he didn’t make it to East Lake.
He managed a top 40 at the PGA, finishing in a tie for 37th — no big deal. He was 10-over through 36 holes at Winged Foot and missed the cut at the U.S. Open. In late October, his last tournament appearance, he was way off at the Zozo, finishing one-over par and in a tie for 72nd.
Tiger hasn’t had a top 10 finished since The Farmers last January. He hasn’t had a top 20 since then.
After that poor showing at Sherwood (Zozo), Tiger had this observation after he was finished:
“The only thing I can take out of this week that I did positively is I putted well. I feel like I rolled it great. Unfortunately they were all — most of them were for pars and a couple for bogey here and there but not enough for birdies”
Tiger tried to put a positive spin on it but it simply was not true. For his four days at Sherwood, Tiger lost more than three strokes to the field on the greens. Of the 77 players in the field that week, Tiger was 65th in putting. So his claim t have “putted well” simply didn’t hold true.
It was Woods’ second-worst performance on the greens since the restart, and it’s noteworthy because Tiger was in the midst of his worst form with the putter of his career.
So what should we expect from him this week? Will his putter suddenly start working?
After his prep work on Tuesday, Tiger met with the sparse few media members on site.
“I haven’t put all the pieces together,” Woods admitted, “and hopefully that will be this week.”
Notice that word “hopefully.” Hope is your worst enemy in the market place and on the golf course, especially at a major.
Tiger did confirm that physically, he’s fine. “My body is feeling better than I did last year, so it was a little bit easier to hit those shots,” he said, talking about the high draws. “Hopefully this year, I’ll be as consistent as I was last year. Last year, I was able to hit a lot of really good iron shots and I putted great. I had a great feel of the greens.”
Notice, once again, the use of the word “hopefully.”
Then he concluded, using it again: “Hopefully I get the same feel as I did last year and put it all together.”
What will be new and a total challenge for Woods is his tee time on Thursday. Tiger goes off on the 10th tee early, very early at 7:55 a.m with amateur Andy Ogletree (the 2019 U.S. Amateur champ) and Open champion Shane Lowry. It’s a difficult start — 10, 11 and 12 present a much bigger challenge than holes one, two and three. Starting off 10 in The Masters will be a first-ever for Woods.
6 Comments
baxter cepeda
Obviously it’s borderline dumb to be bullish on Tiger this year (as i was las year).
But if there is anyone on that short list of players whom can contend and possibly win at Augusta out of nowhere, it’s obviously Tiger.
That early start would be more of a concern if it was colder but it seems it won’t be this week despite the rain.
Starting on the back 9 super early could favor tiger. Stick with me here. He basically needs to par 10-12. You can make a case 1-3 puts players under pressure to start -2 under, especially now that guys are driving it onto 3 with 3 woods. Obviously 2 is a par 5, or a par 4 in Brysons personal par of 67 for Augusta. Aside from the 4 par 5s I think the extra shot under par for Bryson is hole 3 because it’s easily driveable for him.
Anyhow Tiger will be able to attack 1-3 better later in the morning. He also seems to be steadier off the tee on 10 than 1.
I’m just saying, it could help to start on the back, and yes, There’s a chance, as dumb as it may seem.
Tom Edrington
I think it helps no one to start off 10, 10 and 11 are two really tough holes, you know that Baxter, no way to spin that. Thursday is the day that could see a lengthy weather delay, any delay for Tiger would really hurt him, he’s not of the age where he can start, go wait for an hour then go back out…that’s a given.
baxter cepeda
12 is probably the toughest to play so early in the day; everyone will need to deal with a back 9 start.
Let’s hope the weather is better than expected. Tiger can handle some delays, I’m not as patient.
Tom Edrington
Thursday is going to be very, very iffy, there will be weather problems on Thursday, hopeful for rest..
baxter cepeda
Well well well.
Tiger started with a smooth even par on 10-12 and then nice and warmed up —even after a rain delay— he birdied hole 1, where he usually snaps one into the left trees; instead playing the 1-3 stretch at -1 under; tiny disappointment with no birdie at 2 but he still scored in that stretch.
I’m not saying ‘I told you so’ but I am saying this was the prediction to a tee.
Tom Edrington
Baxter, no gloating allowed until after 3 p.m. on Sunday!