Roundup: Tiger Is Back With A 74
Given how bad the start was, Tiger Woods' 74 in the opening round of the Quicken Loans National was pretty decent.
Jim Moriarty's assessment for GolfDigest.com:
Give him this much, in his first competitive round since back surgery on March 31, Tiger Woods could at least bend over and tie his shoes on the first tee. Going out in four-over-par 39 on Congressional C.C.’s back nine, his front, it looked for a while like it would take a belt sander to knock all the rust off Woods’ game. On the front, however, he birdied three of his final six holes to finish with a respectable three-over 74. In Woodsian jargon, for what it was, it was what it is. In Woodsian jargon, for what it was, it was what it is.
Rex Hoggard's take for GolfChannel.com:
“The score is not really indicative of how well I played,” Woods said. “I made so many mistakes.”
Conventional wisdom suggested that because Woods had been limited to only chipping and putting for much of the time since his surgery his short game would not be as rusty as his tee-to-green play, but he struggled early and often around the greens.
He bogeyed No. 15 after a poor chip to 12 feet, missed a 5-footer at the 16th hole for birdie and bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes after more poor chips.
“I hit some bad pitches,” said Woods, who hit 10 of 18 greens in regulation, nine of 14 fairways and needed 31 putts. “Those are the ones I should get up and down and I didn’t.”
Barry Svrluga does a nice job capturing the scene at Congressional and the big picture take on Tiger's return:
But there is little doubt that the uneven, 3-over-par 74 he shot in the first round of the Quicken Loans National meant something more to golf as a sport than the occasional chunked chip shot or wayward iron — both of which Woods hit Thursday. On a global sporting scale, the PGA Tour stop in Bethesda this week is cast against everything from the World Cup to Wimbledon. Without Woods, it drowns. With him, it at least competes.
Geoff
**Steve DiMeglio noted the short game rustiness and Tiger's surprise.
What wasn't good was his short game. He needed 31 putts and left chips short, like the one on No. 2, and long, like the one on No. 17. He left a birdie putt 18 feet short on No. 11, a par putt 15 feet short on No. 10. His short game left Woods as surprised as much as he was disappointed.
"Because that's all I've been doing is chipping and putting," said Woods, who began those disciplines of his game April 20 and didn't start hitting full shots until two weeks ago.
Even though it was a Tiger return from a layoff, typical for a Thursday, the gallery was subdued notes Helen Ross.
The gallery was somewhat subdued but supportive of Woods and his playing partners. Three fans wore orange t-shirts with the words "He's Back" across the chest. After his sixth bogey, a fan yelled out encouragement: "Keep trying, Tiger, keep trying." And the cheers racketed up considerably when he starting hitting it close on the back nine.
Matthew Rudy talks to instructor Jason Birnbaum, who sees some big changes in Tiger's backswing (video is included to support):
Woods' swing has changed noticeably from its pre-surgery form. How much of it is a part of larger rebuild with teacher Sean Foley vs. early caution is still an open question. We asked a top teacher to weigh in on what he saw Thursday.
"There's no doubt he and Sean are working on things that you can't see with the naked eye, and I'm sure they have a plan for what they want to do," says Jason Birnbaum, a Golf Digest Best Young Teacher, "But his swing is obviously shorter. He used to have a full backswing, just short of parallel, with some softness in his left arm. Now, he's short and extremely wide."
Reader Comments (27)
Geoff, want a story? Get on to a UK Sky Sports contact and talk to them about Mark Roe calling Keegan Bradley out again for cheating in the rough tonight. Roe is spot on correct as well - something very fishy about the way Bradley went about his business behind the ball on a couple of holes.
Be interesting to see where scores go tomorrow at Congressional. If we straightlined it the cut would be +4...pretty high.
What's the KB story?
Personally I got a kick out of it but clearly the club members and manager were highly pissed and I'm sure Ponte Vedra wasn't too happy either but as my dear old Dad used to say, f*** em ;)
That is one of the funniest things I have ever read here and I have no idea what it means.
Last night, Bradley was in the rough and stepped on his lie behind the ball - you could not see how far from it it was, but then he took practice swings at a diagonal angle immediately behind the ball - as Mark Roe on Sky states, this is just so blatant.
No-one is calling this guy out for it, he gets away with it all the time. I wonder how many others do this.
Newsflash to Tiger, he hasn't hit a decent pitch shot since he's been with Foley. His S&T/Foley swing has mangled his once brilliant pitching game, and he's chunked more chips under Foley than I can count. Can't believe he's still sticking with Foley. Zero majors and counting with Foley. He'll never win another one if he stays with that snake oil salesman.
The only thing I can add is that usually if an event is being hosted at a private club then another club in the area will have an agreement where the members can come practice and play (for a fee). Then the hosting club will reciprocate if the 2nd club's members want to go play the host course to "try something different."
I've never seen/heard of members practicing while a tour event is going on and that seems obsurd.
I fail to see the relationship between pitching around the green and a full swing. He must have hit a bunch of decent pitches last year when he won 5 times, one in particular at Jacks place on the 16th hole comes to mind
His form yesterday was well within the range of this definition.
Greatest "first loser' (his words) of all time is his destiny.
Tiger specifically stated when he started working with Foley that he had to completely change how he hit pitches around the green because of the different way they were trying to hit at impact.
Out of all the things Tiger has done to his swing, this may have been the most ludicrous thing of all. It's unfathomable to try and change the best short game on tour.
Re. TGillis - it was one woman that decided she didn't like having a tournament take her course for the week. Yes, Tom shouldn't have made the blanket statement concerning the entire club. He acknowledged that. Shame on the event for allowing Tom to be chased down the 18th fairway, cheering for his chunked chip to the green. He chipped his next shot in for par. Wish I could have been there to see that.
If a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his butt when he hops.
In aviation terms, this would be the moment when the stomach never fails to churn, AKA The Point Of No Return...
Bradleys creeper routine could in theory be flattening the bottom of the swing path in the rough every time.
I imagine the pros know a tons of little tricks in the rough to help.
Why do you care soooooo much? Is it the money?