Tour News

No signs of pain, but Tiger struggles in Round 1 of the PGA Championship

Published

12 years ago

Aug 7, 2014

Tiger Woods finished Round 1 of the PGA Championship seemingly pain free, albeit with a 3-over-par 74. When he limped off the course last week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, even showing up for the PGA Championship seemed unlikely, so completing his round was a positive sign.

His round was uneventful, apart from a chip-in birdie at hole No. 16, his seventh hole, which was his only birdie of the day. He made four bogeys and nothing was established by way of momentum

But hey, he showed up and played.

On Tuesday, Woods arrived in rock-star fashion. Twitter nearly exploded with people speculating when or if he’d arrive in Louisville, Ky., and second-by-second updates of his empty parking space were all too intriguing. He eventually arrived for a 2 p.m. practice round, where he played nine holes and walked the other nine. Hardly enough preparation for a major championship.

Woods proved in his first round that he didn’t study quite hard enough for the major championship test.

Our expectations are certainly lower than when he entered the 2000 PGA Championship at the same Valhalla Golf Club grounds, where he was the unanimous favorite to win. Things are different now, but how much can really be expected from a golfer coming off back surgery a little more than four months ago?

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

22 Comments

CW

Aug 8, 2014 at 11:46 am

The hype is over.He will not win another major again.
Just look at Mcllroy,he is light years ahead of Tiger..
A lot of ppl have become very rich because of Woods,but nothing last forever.

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Andrew

Aug 7, 2014 at 11:13 pm

Why don’t we all just give the guy a break? When pros, along with most of us golfers are on top of our game, we are hitting a few hundred range balls and working short game for a couple hours every day. I lose a lot if I take even a week off and tiger hasn’t played much in months. His old routine consisted of working out and practicing from sun up to sun down every single day. He’s still the best golfer to ever play the game and I believe that there will never be a player as talented as tiger again. We say he’s in a slump and he won 5 times last season and was player of the year. Most players dream of calling that a slump. He’ll be back, and he’ll win 5 more majors. I think that with the physical shape tiger is in, his career isn’t even close to over.

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Ben Hogan

Aug 7, 2014 at 8:56 pm

Really, if you look at this swing he has now vs what he did in 2000 and compare it to Hogan he is much closer to Hogan now than he was with either Butch or Haney. His footwork has improved immensely under Foley which has helped his knee. After viewing video of him vs Justin Rose I think the main thing he needs to change is his grip to an overlapping grip because it will help him release the club the way he and Foley want. His interlocking grip was fine when he had poor foot work that stressed his knee but now he has improved that and it is costing him. Not being able to take it from the range to the course means he is extremely close but there is something fundamentally wrong because he can’t rely on it under pressure. For anyone who wants to improve read the 5 lessons and everything almost everything he has changed comes directly from there. Just one lesson he hasn’t taken to heart and that is the grip Hogan describes

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- Andrew Cooper
  
  Aug 8, 2014 at 3:33 am
  
  Woods doesn’t need to swing more like Hogan (or Rose or Mahan or some other Foley creation)-he simply needs to swing and play like Woods. Woods is at a totally different level to Rose-a very good pro for sure, but Woods is a genius. Woods needs to trust his innate ability, find his feel and regain his creativity-and play golf!
  Why Woods has felt the need to copy lesser players beats me. I remember a few years back Woods saying Grant Waite (1 Tour win in 200 or so starts)had the best swing on tour-says a lot…
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Ben Hogan
    
    Aug 8, 2014 at 1:06 pm
    
    Don’t necessarily disagree with you. I think that if tiger would have just left his swing alone from 97 he wouldn’t have so many swing thoughts at the moment. If he could get back to that I think he would be better off than the current Foley swing.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Andrew Cooper
      
      Aug 8, 2014 at 5:11 pm
      
      It’s not to criticise Foley who is clearly a very smart guy and a good coach who is doing his best. But Woods really needs to take ownership of his game.
      
      Reply Report comment
MHendon

Aug 7, 2014 at 5:29 pm

I was a fan of Tiger’s before most posters on here even knew who he was. Then he became famous and everyone jumped on board the Tiger train. That’s when I quit being a fan, not so much Tiger’s fault but more so the money hungry Azz kissing media machine and it’s sheep AKA the fans. Now everyone seems to want to jump on the Tiger bashing wagon and I feel myself rooting for him a little bit again.

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- Scrunge
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 10:54 pm
  
  A Tiger hipster, cool. Have a PBR and enjoy the tourney.
  
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Hellstorm

Aug 7, 2014 at 3:45 pm

Tiger will be fine…maybe he misses the cut and goes home for the winter and spends the next few months getting healthy. The bottom line is that golf needs him to come out, even if he doesn’t finish high….he is worth too much money to them and the TV networks. All these guys should be thanking him every chance they get….they would still be making LPGA purses if Tiger never came along and brought his cash machine to the tour. I think if he can get himself healthy, he can have a few more great years.

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- Philip
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 6:46 pm
  
  Isn’t funny how much so many people worry about the tours and sponsors and how much money they make from Tiger. There was a time when people played golf for fun and sport. Golf is perfectly fine with or without Tiger, Arnold, Jack, Bobby, Ben, etc. The PGA Tour’s profits are of no concern. Golf will likely shrink after Tiger retires and then grow again when the next superstar comes along.
  
  Golf is not about money or superstars – it is abut getting out on the course by yourself or with friends, and taking on the course and yourself.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Hellstorm
    
    Aug 7, 2014 at 9:20 pm
    
    The PGA Tour isn’t going to suffer when Tiger is done…Tiger already brought the money in. Once its in there, it will be tough to take away. Tiger raised the bar way higher than all those other guys. Whether you like Tiger Woods or not, nobody can make a rationale argument against that fact. Those other guys have had huge personal success and laid the groundwork for these guys today, but Woods took it another five levels above that. Personally, I don’t play on the tour so I could care less if they are playing for 7 million dollar purses or 1 million dollar purses. Of course the PGA Tour will survive, nobody is saying otherwise. To people like us that don’t golf for a living, the money and superstars are marginally attractive, but if you were playing on tour, you would care a whole lot more.
    
    Reply Report comment
JJ Man

Aug 7, 2014 at 2:36 pm

Three over par – sounds like the back is starting to hurt a little bit

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- TW
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 3:35 pm
  
  very true. Tigers game is in pure decline, the Tiger lovers need to face that fact. Will he win another major? yes, I think he gets 1 maaaaaybe 2 more tops. Breaking jacks record I think is past. The competition has finally improved with youthful golfers. When Tiger was at his prime the golf world was very poor with lack luster talent at the tail end of their careers (Vijay, Omeara, DL3,Big EZ, Duval was a flash in the pan). Now Tiger is dealing with the Rory’s, Kaymer, Fowlers, Resurgence of Garcia, Scott, Rose, and Bubbas of the world. from 1999 to 2002 Tiger won 7 majors. Phil mickelson had a great encore career from 2004 to 2013 that gave Tiger a good run as far as another multi major winner goes. Since 2004 Tiger has won 6 majors. Now however the young guns are better than ever and its not only Tigers natural decline but the tougher competition that will doom Tigers bid for 19.
  
  (I know its not a proven system but go look up the top 25 golfers of all time opinions of course but you have tiger and phil from the Tiger era Vijay and Els at the tail end of their careers)
  
  Reply Report comment
cb

Aug 7, 2014 at 2:31 pm

i love how people bash tiger and say hes never coming back. then they will use this round as proof that hes not coming back. but think about what lead up to this round. the man hasnt played in months and shows up and shoots 4 over in the first round at a major. think about how well you would do if you havent swung a club in months and then try to play at the hardest course you could think of. there are guys playing every week who will shoot 4 over or worse. the fact that he hasnt played in months and hasnt even swung a club because of back surgery and he still can come out and shoot 4 over in a round at a major is remarkable.

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- Knobbywood
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 3:15 pm
  
  3 over
  
  Reply Report comment
- TW
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 3:36 pm
  
  0 majors since 2008 is reason enough, plus the missed cuts and WDs are adding up
  
  Reply Report comment
- Hellstorm
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 3:38 pm
  
  I agree. All these people were giving him crap about the Open and having a bad last few rounds but never say anything about the guys missing the cut that have been healthy and practicing all year. Tiger is a victim of his own success. He won 5 times last year but apparently he still sucks….even against fields as good as or better than majors.
  
  Reply Report comment
chad ryan

Aug 7, 2014 at 2:24 pm

Don’t buy the injury excuses. Tiger just isn’t as sharp. Even when he is driving it well his iron and wedge play doesn’t look good. He hit a nice drive today on the first hole i watched – had 70 yards left and still couldn’t get it within 15 feet. Even I would be disappointed with that.

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- Knobbywood
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 3:34 pm
  
  Oh right because you would have no trouble with your nerves and control the distance on a little half-wedge shot on the first hole of a major championship…
  
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  - Hellstorm
    
    Aug 7, 2014 at 3:46 pm
    
    He probably wouldn’t. He would have been better than Woods if only he started practicing when he was 6 instead of watching cartoons.
    
    Reply Report comment
  - Philip
    
    Aug 7, 2014 at 4:00 pm
    
    What nerves, this isn’t a rookie. You can say whatever – rusty, still a bit sore, whatever – but an issue with his nerves???
    
    Reply Report comment

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