That didn’t take long, did it?
It was disconcerting that Tiger Woods couldn’t finish the pro-am Wednesday at the Northern Trust and things didn’t look any better on Thursday.
Woods admitted to being “stiff” after shooting a 75 that just about left him at the bottom of the 120-man field.
By Friday morning he was headed back to Jupiter. He announced he was withdrawing, citing a “strained oblique” muscle.
That basically puts Woods in jeopardy of not making the field at East Lake, where he is the defending champion. It’s going to take a substantial performance by him to get back into the top 30 and with the muscle strain, it puts everything in doubt.
Woods said he’s “hopeful” he’ll play next week.
Good luck with that.
In the meantime, don’t be shocked but Jordan Spieth is just a shot out of the lead after 36-holes. Spieth tied for the low round of the day Friday with a seven-under par 64 that got him to 11-under par and a shot back of Dustin Johnson. Spieth will play with D.J. in Saturday’s final pairing at Liberty National.
“I hit the ball pretty similar between the two days. I just made more putts today,” Spieth said after getting to 11-under for the tournament. ” I found myself in some easier locations on the greens to be able to knock some mid-rangers in, but I thought the course setup may have been a little bit easier with the pins, too, maybe after the 10th through 12th holes were pretty nasty and from there, it was relatively gettable.
“I think that the turnaround in ball-striking week-to-week is certainly awesome to see that it’s possible; that it is just — that it was close,” Spieth went on. “It’s kind of verification of what I’ve been talking about. You know, halfway there. Off to a good start. I’d like to gain a little bit better control off the tee than I did today. Kind of got a little wayward but very pleased with the halfway point.
Spieth admitted his ball-striking is coming back. “It’s up there with better ball-striking of the year, for sure. I’m just tracking on a much better place throughout the golf swing. It’s just been trying to figure out how to track it that way has been kind of the tough part. But the wedge play has really come back. That’s really big for me, wedge and short irons, and certainly able to control it off the tee a bit better, too. The important thing for me is not to; not to get ahead of myself. I mean, it’s to just continue to try and be consistent. I’m just trying to get — historically, I’m a very consistent player. I’ve lost a bit of that. I still have the firepower but that consistency is what I’m trying to get back.”
Spieth was looking forward to the weekend:
“I’m in position, and there’s going to be times where I’m out of position over the weekend. It’s about limiting the mistakes. You know, one bogey over 36 holes is somewhat unrealistic week-to-week. But if I can hold it close to that for the next 36, again, that firepower is still there. And it would certainly shoot my confidence up.”
