Game of Numbers: Will it be 16/82 for Tiger Woods?

By Rahul Banerji

A 16^th major translating to a record-equalling 82^nd PGA Tour title for Tiger Woods has become one of the more prominent of several news hooks for the 115^th US Open that gets under way at the spectacular Pebble Beach Golf Links on Thursday.

With major number 15 safely in the bag and this course the setting for probably his greatest win 19 years ago, Tiger finds himself alongside Rory McIlroy and just behind Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka as a punter’s fancy, though he has put out a word of caution already.

“It’s not the same body that I had back in 2000. I don’t think any of us have the same body we had 19 years ago,” Tiger said at his Tuesday press conference.

“The golf ball is going further than it did back in 2000, I’m slower than I was in 2000. Apples to oranges, I guess you could say. I am about the same distance. And so the golf course really doesn’t play that much differently for me.

“It’s just a matter of putting the ball in the right spots. I missed the ball in the correct spots (in 2000)… you look at all my angles. I did not hit every green. I did not hit every fairway, but I always had the proper angle. And gave me the best chance to get up-and-down.

“I poured everything in. Hopefully I can have one of those weeks on the greens again.”

Woods will play alongside 2015 US Open winner Jordan Speith and FedEx Cup winner and 2013 US Open champion Justin Rose, starting among the last groups off tee no. 1.

Koepka is ready

Winner of four majors in the last two years and two-time US Open defending champion Brooks Koepka credits his near-collapse on the final day of the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black for fresh motivation after being seven ahead of Dustin Johnson and haning on to win by two shots.

“Just for the fact that I was stunned. I was kind of shocked and in awe for about an hour there, making four bogeys in a row,” he said at Tuesday’s media interaction.

“I didn’t really know what was up at that point. And then having to re-correct things and kind of reset myself. It’s definitely a big advantage. I mean, we all know in US Opens you could be 4 over through four very easily.

“And you look at it like this week, you get off to a tough start, and all of a sudden I’ve got to reset. Now I know how to do that under pressure. I know how to do that and really handle myself and kind of right the ship. I think that’s going to be important going forward.”

Lahiri upbeat

Meanwhile, Indian hopes are pinned on Anirban Lahiri, who made it to the tournament from the Ohio qualifier two weeks ago. Lahiri tees off as one of the final groups on Thursday with Ollie Schniederjans and Mikumu Horikawa.

Ahead of a Indian record 16^th major appearance, Lahiri said on his Twitter feed he was looking forward to the week ahead

“Nice to get a feel for @PebbleBeachGolf on the best day of the year (so the locals say). Bit different from the @PlayStation version from a decade ago. The course looks pristine and perfect for @usopengolf. Excited for the week to come. #currypower #golfheaven – at Pebble Beach”..

He then added: “It’s almost time. Let’s have the flag fly high. #currypower”

Groups, tee times (in ET, * indicates 10^th tee start)

First round

9:45 AM Sam Saunders Carlos Ortiz Marcus Fraser
9:45 AM* Luis Gagne (a) Sepp Straka Julian Etulain
9:56 AM Player TBD Erik Van Rooyen Chun An Yu (a)
9:56 AM* Dean Burmester Player TBD Kyounghoon Lee
10:07 AM Ryan Fox Thorbjorn Olesen Player TBD
10:07 AM* Clement Sordet Tom Hoge Adri Arnaus
10:18 AM Scottie Scheffler Matt Parziale (a) Nick Taylor
10:18 AM* Brian Davis Kevin O’Connell (a) Billy Hurley III
10:29 AM Patton Kizzire Jovan Rebula (a) Jason Dufner
10:29 AM* Brendon Todd Luke Donald Mike Weir
10:40 AM Haotong Li Bubba Watson J.B. Holmes
10:40 AM* Kyle Stanley Billy Horschel Danny Willett
10:51 AM Zach Johnson Martin Kaymer Ernie Els
10:51 AM* Jon Rahm Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy
11:02 AM Si Woo Kim Rickie Fowler Jason Day
11:02 AM* Justin Thomas Kevin Kisner Bryson Dechambeau
11:13 AM Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton Gary Woodland
11:13 AM* Dustin Johnson Phil Mickelson Graeme McDowell
11:24 AM Cameron Smith Matthew Wallace Xander Schauffele
11:24 AM* Hideki Matsuyama Sergio Garcia Tommy Fleetwood
11:35 AM C.T. Pan Abraham Ancer Brandon Wu (a)
11:35 AM* Jhonattan Vegas Patrick Reed Louis Oosthuizen
11:46 AM Chan Kim Justin Walters Player TBD
11:46 AM* Rob Oppenheim Rhys Enoch Richard Lee
11:57 AM Nick Hardy Noah Norton (a) Andreas Halvorsen
11:57 AM* Andy Pope Ryan Sullivan Matthew Naumec
3:30 PM Rory Sabbatini Sam Horsfield Roberto Castro
3:30 PM* Nathan Lashley Renato Paratore Lee Slattery
3:41 PM Cameron Young (a) Marcus Kinhult Brian Stuard
3:41 PM* Player TBD Collin Morikawa Aaron Wise
3:52 PM Luke Guthrie Joseph Bramlett Charlie Danielson
3:52 PM* Merrick Bremner Chip McDaniel Cody Gribble
4:03 PM Austin Eckroat (a) Alexander Noren Charles Howell III
4:03 PM* Michael Thorbjornsen (a) Chez Reavie David Toms
4:14 PM Thomas Pieters Chesson Hadley Stewart Hagestad (a)
4:14 PM* Rafa Cabrera Bello Kevin Na Keegan Bradley
4:25 PM Paul Casey Patrick Cantlay Lucas Glover
4:25 PM* Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson Brandt Snedeker
4:36 PM Kiradech Aphibarnrat Keith Mitchell Shugo Imahira
4:36 PM* Luke List Lucas Bjerregaard Branden Grace
4:47 PM Francesco Molinari Viktor Hovland (a) Brooks Koepka
4:47 PM* Webb Simpson Adam Scott Matt Kuchar
4:58 PM Tony Finau Jimmy Walker Ian Poulter
4:58 PM* Byeong Hun An Devon Bling (a) Matthew Fitzpatrick
5:09 PM Jordan Spieth Justin Rose Tiger Woods
5:09 PM* Justin Harding Aaron Baddeley Player TBD
5:20 PM Daniel Berger Matthew Jones Kodai Ichihara
5:20 PM* Ollie Schniederjans Mikumu Horikawa Anirban Lahiri
5:31 PM Matthieu Pavon Chandler Eaton (a) Callum Tarren
5:31 PM* Daniel Hillier (a) Alex Prugh Zac Blair
5:42 PM Eric Dietrich Guillermo Pereira Brett Drewitt
5:42 PM* Hayden Shieh Spencer Tibbits (a) Connor Arendell

Second round

9:45 AM Nathan Lashley Renato Paratore Lee Slattery
9:45 AM* Rory Sabbatini Sam Horsfield Roberto Castro
9:56 AM Player TBD Collin Morikawa Aaron Wise
9:56 AM* Cameron Young (a) Marcus Kinhult Brian Stuard
10:07 AM Merrick Bremner Chip McDaniel Cody Gribble
10:07 AM* Luke Guthrie Joseph Bramlett Charlie Danielson
10:18 AM Michael Thorbjornsen (a) Chez Reavie David Toms
10:18 AM* Austin Eckroat (a) Alexander Noren Charles Howell III
10:29 AM Rafa Cabrera Bello Kevin Na Keegan Bradley
10:29 AM* Thomas Pieters Chesson Hadley Stewart Hagestad (a)
10:40 AM Jim Furyk Henrik Stenson Brandt Snedeker
10:40 AM* Paul Casey Patrick Cantlay Lucas Glover
10:51 AM Luke List Lucas Bjerregaard Branden Grace
10:51 AM* Kiradech Aphibarnrat Keith Mitchell Shugo Imahira
11:02 AM Webb Simpson Adam Scott Matt Kuchar
11:02 AM* Francesco Molinari Viktor Hovland (a) Brooks Koepka
11:13 AM Byeong Hun An Devon Bling (a) Matthew Fitzpatrick
11:13 AM* Tony Finau Jimmy Walker Ian Poulter
11:24 AM Justin Harding Aaron Baddeley Player TBD
11:24 AM* Jordan Spieth Justin Rose Tiger Woods
11:35 AM Ollie Schniederjans Mikumu Horikawa Anirban Lahiri
11:35 AM* Daniel Berger Matthew Jones Kodai Ichihara
11:46 AM Daniel Hillier (a) Alex Prugh Zac Blair
11:46 AM* Matthieu Pavon Chandler Eaton (a) Callum Tarren
11:57 AM Hayden Shieh Spencer Tibbits (a) Connor Arendell
11:57 AM* Eric Dietrich Guillermo Pereira Brett Drewitt
3:30 PM Luis Gagne (a) Sepp Straka Julian Etulain
3:30 PM* Sam Saunders Carlos Ortiz Marcus Fraser
3:41 PM Dean Burmester Player TBD Kyounghoon Lee
3:41 PM* Player TBD Erik Van Rooyen Chun An Yu (a)
3:52 PM Clement Sordet Tom Hoge Adri Arnaus
3:52 PM* Ryan Fox Thorbjorn Olesen Player TBD
4:03 PM Brian Davis Kevin O’Connell (a) Billy Hurley III
4:03 PM* Scottie Scheffler Matt Parziale (a) Nick Taylor
4:14 PM Brendon Todd Luke Donald Mike Weir
4:14 PM* Patton Kizzire Jovan Rebula (a) Jason Dufner
4:25 PM Kyle Stanley Billy Horschel Danny Willett
4:25 PM* Haotong Li Bubba Watson J.B. Holmes
4:36 PM Jon Rahm Marc Leishman Rory McIlroy
4:36 PM* Zach Johnson Martin Kaymer Ernie Els
4:47 PM Justin Thomas Kevin Kisner Bryson Dechambeau
4:47 PM* Si Woo Kim Rickie Fowler Jason Day
4:58 PM Dustin Johnson Phil Mickelson Graeme McDowell
4:58 PM* Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton Gary Woodland
5:09 PM Hideki Matsuyama Sergio Garcia Tommy Fleetwood
5:09 PM* Cameron Smith Matthew Wallace Xander Schauffele
5:20 PM Jhonattan Vegas Patrick Reed Louis Oosthuizen
5:20 PM* C.T. Pan Abraham Ancer Brandon Wu (a)
5:31 PM Rob Oppenheim Rhys Enoch Richard Lee
5:31 PM* Chan Kim Justin WaltersPlayer TBD
5:42 PM Andy Pope Ryan Sullivan Matthew Naumec
5:42 PM* Nick Hardy Noah Norton (a) Andreas Halvorsen

(Courtesy pgatour.com)

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