Rested and ready, says Tiger on PGA Championship eve

By Rahul Banerji

There have been occasions I have attended a Tiger Woods press conference (thanks largely to Hero MotoCorp) over the past few years, and watched him a whole heap more on television between the worst of his injury days, pre and immediately post back fusion surgery.

It was a long walk in the dark for a man who once knew almost no limits. For the millions anxious to see him swing a competitive club again, it was a wait that seemed it would never end.

Those days are now well behind, the number count of titles is once again on the move, and the Tiger Roar echoes on golf courses again. Major number 15 is in the bag too, and in just over 24 hours, Tiger Woods sets out again – not to turn back the clock, but to keep step as time ticks away.

US PGA Championship Day 1 Thursday, 16–17 May, Timings: 22:30 – 04:15 Hrs. (IST) on DSPORT 

So on Tuesday at Farmingdale, New York, when Tiger spoke at length for the first time since winning at Augusta National last month, there were flashes of those difficult times, but more importantly, a recognition that his golf mojo is back.

‘I’m ready’

Tiger goes into the 101^st edition of the US PGA Championship as a favourite for the Wanamaker Trophy on one of the most brutal courses in the world, in his own words, “rested and ready”, and will play the first two days alongside defending Champion Brooka Koepka and The Open winner Francesco Molinari.

“I wanted to play at Quail Hollow (the Wells Fargo Championship) but I was not mentally prepared to log in the hours,” he said. “That’s the interesting thing going forward: how much do I play and how much do I rest?

“I think I have done the leg work over the last 12 to 18 months. The body doesn’t bounce back as well as it used to and I am aware of that.

“Whether I’m dominant or not going forward, that remains to be seen. What I know is I need to give myself the best chance to win the events that I play in, and sometimes that can be taking more breaks here and there and making sure I am ready to go and being able to give it my best at those events.”

History, records beckon

As always, history and records stalk Tiger Woods every time he steps out on a golf course. Immediately ahead is the possibility of a record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title alongside Sam Snead, and a fifth PGA Championship win.

“To tie Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus with five wins would be a special accomplishment,” said the world number six who could also climb back to the top of the world rankings with the title on Sunday.

Inevitably, the question of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics cropped up. Did he want to play the Games? “Would I like to play in the Olympics? Yes.

“I’ve never played in the Olympics, and I’m sure that I won’t have many more opportunities going forward at 43 years old now to play in many Olympics. Yes, that would be a first for me and something that I would certainly welcome if I was part of the team.

“How many events — how many events do I play? Do I add a couple more to get in? These are all questions that will be answered going forward. I just know that if I play well in the big events like I did this year, things will take care of itself.”

Swing thing

That’s recognition that Tiger’s game is somewhere near where he would like it to be, especially since his “swing has finally turned a corner”.

But Tiger knows beating Bethpage Black will not be easy in the quest for major number 16. “In order to win this one, driving is going to be at the forefront with the rough as lush as it is,” he said.

“Prior to playing, I feel great. Physically I’ve been feeling really good. The training sessions have been good. I’ve been doing a lot of practising of late; not in sweaters, so this is a little bit different (with unseasonably low temperatures hitting the area).

“This is not only a big golf course, but this is going to be a long week the way the golf course is set up and potentially could play. This could be a hell of a championship.”

Tee-times and groups, rounds 1&2, all times local

1st Round

6:45 am: Rob Labritz, Beau Hossler, J.J. Spaun
6:45 am*: Ben Cook, Scott Piercy, Brian Gay
6:56 am: Sam Burns, Jeffrey Schmid, Keith Mitchell
6:56 am*: Thomas Pieters, Patton Kizzire, Adam Hadwin
7:07 am: Byeong Hun An, Jason Caron, Andrew Putnam
7:07 am*: Brandt Snedeker, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Max Homa
7:18 am: John O’Leary, Harold Varner III, Kyle Stanley
7:18 am*: Henrik Stenson, David Lipsky, Richard Sterne
7:29 am: Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Justin Harding, Richy Werenski
7:29 am*: Shane Lowry, Erik Van Rooyen, Tommy Fleetwood
7:40 am: Vijay Singh, Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker
7:40 am*: Sergio Garcia, Kelly Kraft, Adam Scott
7:51 am: Graeme McDowell, Chez Reavie, Brendan Jones
7:51 am*: Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Reed
8:02 am: Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Knox, Haotong Li
8:02 am*: Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose
8:13 am: Lee Westwood, Shaun Norris, Charles Howell III
8:13 am*: Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Alex Noren
8:24 am: J.B. Holmes, Lucas Bjerregaard, Troy Merritt
8:24 am*: Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari, Tiger Woods
8:35 am: Joost Luiten, Brian Mackey, Matt Wallace
8:35 am*: Aaron Wise, Ryan Fox, Shugo Imahira
8:46 am: Casey Russell, Luke List, Abraham Ancer
8:46 am*: Julian Suri, Marty Jertson, Martin Trainer
8:57 am — Craig Bowden, Adam Long, Joaquin Niemann
8:57 am*: Lucas Herbert, Cory Schneider, Sungjae Im
12:10 pm: Michael Thompson, Danny Lee, Justin Bertsch
12:10 pm*: Ryan Vermeer, Adrian Otaegui, Jason Kokrak
12:21 pm: Cameron Champ, Rich Berberian, Jr., Lucas Glover
12:21 pm*: Alex Björk, Rod Perry, Ross Fisher
12:32 pm: Emiliano Grillo, Daniel Berger, Paul Casey
12:32 pm*: Eddie Pepperell, Branden Grace, Ryan Palmer
12:43 pm: Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Ian Poulter
12:43 pm*: Ryan Moore, Joel Dahmen, Thorbjørn Olesen
12:54 pm: Matt Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Gary Woodland
12:54 pm*: Y.E. Yang, Rich Beem, John Daly
1:05 pm: Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Keegan Bradley
1:05 pm*: Steve Stricker, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay
1:16 pm: Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
1:16 pm*: Sung Kang, Shaun Micheel, Alex Beach
1:27 pm: Pat Perez, Kevin Kisner, Bryson DeChambeau
1:27 pm*: C.T. Pan, Kevin Na, Ryan Armour
1:38 pm: Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day
1:38 pm*: Danny Willett, Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson
1:49 pm: Satoshi Kodaira, Matt Kuchar, Cameron Smith
1:49 pm*: Kevin Tway, Brandon Stone, Bronson Burgoon
2:00 pm: Corey Conners, Jim Furyk, Marc Leishman
2:00 pm*: Si Woo Kim, Danny Balin, Tom Lewis
2:11 pm: Jorge Campillo, Stuart Deane, Chesson Hadley
2:11 pm*: Jazz Janewattananond, Tyler Hall, Michael Kim
2:22 pm: Dylan Frittelli, Andrew Filbert, Kurt Kitayama
2:22 pm*: Mikko Korhonen, Craig Hocknull, Jhonattan Vegas

2nd Round

6:45 am: Ryan Vermeer, Adrian Otaegui, Jason Kokrak
6:45 am*: Michael Thompson, Danny Lee, Justin Bertsch
6:56 am: Alex Björk, Rod Perry, Ross Fisher
6:56 am*: Cameron Champ, Rich Berberian, Jr., Lucas Glover
7:07 am: Eddie Pepperell, Branden Grace, Ryan Palmer
7:07 am*: Emiliano Grillo, Daniel Berger, Paul Casey
7:18 am: Ryan Moore, Joel Dahmen, Thorbjørn Olesen
7:18 am*: Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Ian Poulter
7:29 am: Y.E. Yang, Rich Beem, John Daly
7:29 am*: Matt Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Gary Woodland
7:40 am: Steve Stricker, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay
7:40 am*: Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Keegan Bradley
7:51 am: Sung Kang, Shaun Micheel, Alex Beach
7:51 am*: Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
8:02 am: C.T. Pan, Kevin Na, Ryan Armour
8:02 am*: Pat Perez, Kevin Kisner, Bryson DeChambeau
8:13 am: Danny Willett, Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson
8:13 am*: Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day
8:24 am: Kevin Tway, Brandon Stone, Bronson Burgoon
8:24 am*: Satoshi Kodaira, Matt Kuchar, Cameron Smith
8:35 am: Si Woo Kim, Danny Balin, Tom Lewis
8:35 am*: Corey Conners, Jim Furyk, Marc Leishman
8:46 am: Jazz Janewattananond, Tyler Hall, Michael Kim
8:46 am*: Jorge Campillo, Stuart Deane, Chesson Hadley
8:57 am: Mikko Korhonen, Craig Hocknull, Jhonattan Vegas
8:57 am*: Dylan Frittelli, Andrew Filbert, Kurt Kitayama
12:10 pm: Ben Cook, Scott Piercy, Brian Gay
12:10 pm*: Rob Labritz, Beau Hossler, J.J. Spaun
12:21 pm: Thomas Pieters, Patton Kizzire, Adam Hadwin
12:21 pm*: Sam Burns, Jeffrey Schmid, Keith Mitchell
12:32 pm: Brandt Snedeker, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Max Homa
12:32 pm*: Byeong Hun An, Jason Caron, Andrew Putnam
12:43 pm: Henrik Stenson, David Lipsky, Richard Sterne
12:43 pm*: John O’Leary, Harold Varner III, Kyle Stanley
12:54 pm: Shane Lowry, Erik van Rooyen, Tommy Fleetwood
12:54 pm*: Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Justin Harding, Richy Werenski
1:05 pm: Sergio Garcia, Kelly Kraft, Adam Scott
1:05 pm*: Vijay Singh, Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker
1:16 pm: Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Reed
1:16 pm*: Graeme McDowell, Chez Reavie, Brendan Jones
1:27 pm: Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose
1:27 pm*: Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Knox, Haotong Li
1:38 pm: Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Alex Noren
1:38 pm*: Lee Westwood, Shaun Norris, Charles Howell III
1:49 pm: Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari, Tiger Woods
1:49 pm*: J.B. Holmes, Lucas Bjerregaard, Troy Merritt
2:00 pm: Aaron Wise, Ryan Fox, Shugo Imahira
2:00 pm*: Joost Luiten, Brian Mackey, Matt Wallace
2:11 pm: Julian Suri, Marty Jertson, Martin Trainer
2:11 pm*: Casey Russell, Luke List, Abraham Ancer
2:22 pm: Lucas Herbert, Cory Schneider, Sungjae Im
2:22 pm*: Craig Bowden, Adam Long, Joaquin Niemann

* 10th tee start

(courtesy pga.com)

Also read: Tiger-talk, and some suggestive Bethpage Black trivia