A PGA tournament doesn’t receive quite as much buzz without Tiger Woods. This weekend was his first time back since the coronavirus shutdown, and he nearly didn’t make it to Saturday.
The last time he played on TV was the charity event with Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning. He played well, giving a lot of optimism to his fans.
The Memorial Tournament
Woods opened the tournament on Thursday by posting a -1. He was far from the lead, but safe from the cut line. But the wheels fell off on Friday.
He shot a +4, putting him at +3 for the tournament. The cut line ended up being +3 after the late-afternoon scores came in, so he was able to stick around for two more rounds. He was able to sink three birdie putts, but he had too many bogeys mixed in.
“Not very good,” Woods said. “I three-putted two holes early, and whatever kind of momentum I was going to create, I stifled that early and fought it the rest of the day.”
Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, hosts the Memorial Tournament. It was nearly the first time in 18 appearances that Woods missed the cut. He has won this tournament five times, more than anyone else.
Health Moving Forward
It’s no secret that Woods can’t play the number of tournaments he did in the past. He still faces issues with his back that affect his ability to play well.
“I wasn’t quite moving as well as I’d like and couldn’t quite turn back and couldn’t quite clear,” Woods said. “It was a bit of a struggle.”
He acknowledged the strange layoff that has occurred due to the coronavirus.
“Basically, most of my layoffs in my career have been because of surgeries, and so this is a forced layoff for all of us,” Woods said. “This is different than my past layoffs. But this is a new world we’re living in.”
After this weekend, he will begin to look forward to the majors that are approaching. Upcoming are the PGA Championship (Aug. 6-9), U.S. Open (Sept. 17-20), and the Masters (Nov. 12-15).
It’s likely that Woods won’t be seen on the course much in between these events. He will have the opportunity to play in the Masters in the fall as the defending champion.
“Well, I don’t have the same type of stamina as I used to have, that’s for sure, when I was training hard and running and all that stuff,” Woods said. “Granted, I’m a lot older now, so things change, they evolve. Yeah, so it is what it is. Energy, you try to suck it up as best you can and get through it.”
Even though there are several young guys in the game that get plenty of attention, golf still needs Tiger. He will be a fan favorite until he decides to no longer play. Sportsbooks will continue to see bets rolling in for him, even if he isn’t playing well.
The 44-year-old will continue to attempt to reach his peak form, and his fans will be waiting.
