Tiger Woods is back to the grinding rehab routine, back home early after he decided that there was nothing to gain from an 8 a.m. Sunday tee time at the PGA Championship.
Truth be known, what did Tiger in was his late tee time on Friday followed by an early tee time Saturday in the cold, windy Tulsa air.
If you paid close attention late Friday, the 15-time major champion was wincing noticeably after hitting some shots over the final three or four holes of his second round — where he managed to break par (69) and make the 36-hole cut with a shot to spare.
Woods came to this major championship with optimism swirling all about him. He said he was stronger than he was at The Masters and he got rave reviews from the head professional at Southern Hills — Cary Cozby — who caddied for Woods on a scouting trip Tiger made a few weeks before the championship.
Yes, there was an optimistic buzz surrounding Woods, who looked okay during his three nine-hole practice sessions prior to last Thursday’s start.
That optimism gave way to concern when Woods opened with 74 but the gates swung the other way when Tiger ground out a nice 69 on Friday to make the cut with a shot to spare.
Only problem was his Saturday morning starting time. At three-over, he was 12 shots behind 36-hole leader Will Zalatoris and with temps hovering around 50 and winds whipping the early starters on Saturday, it was a lot for his recovering body to handle.
He couldn’t handle it. It was everything he could do just to break 80 — and he did, by a shot.
The Saturday evening decision was an easy one. After conferring with his inner circle, it’s pretty likely they agreed there was nothing to gain from another early tee time and another 18-hole struggle. Time to go home, rest and see if progress can be made to prepare for the U.S. Open next month at The Country Club outside Boston in Brookline, Mass.
That is about three-and-a-half weeks from now and the problem for Tiger is that these majors have five-hour-plus rounds. The U.S. Open is a huge field with players starting early and players starting really late.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he skipped the U.S. Open and turned his focus to St. Andrews, a walkers-friendly links course where knowledge of the ancient links is everything — and Tiger’s knowledge of the lines to take is strong.
So the watch is on and so far, all we’ve learned is that Tiger is okay for 36 holes. For more than that — it’s a crap-shoot at best.
