Tiger to tee up with new irons

TIGER Woods will use a new set of irons at this week’s Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, the 14-time major winner has said.

Woods has been trying out the TaylorMade clubs for a while and has decided the time is right to put them to the test in the heat of competition.

“Phase 1 of irons development is complete. Looking forward to teeing it up this week,” he said on Twitter ahead of today’s first round in Charlotte.

The news comes more than a year after Woods signed with TaylorMade, and after a disappointing performance last month at the US Masters.

Woods struggled with his irons on the way to finishing tied for 32nd.

“I felt I hit it well enough off the tee to do some things, but I hit my irons awful for the week,” he said after his final round at Augusta National.

Woods, in his seventh start of the year after a successful spinal fusion, will be joined at Quail Hollow by a strong field that also features Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Masters champion Patrick Reed.

McIlroy and Thomas have fond memories of Quail Hollow. McIlroy recorded his first PGA Tour win there in 2010, while Thomas more recently made his major breakthrough at the PGA Championship.

The course setup this week will be more forgiving than it was when Thomas won in August, with more grass around the greens expected to offer better lies for chip shots.

While Woods will consume most attention, fans with an eye on the future could do worse than watch Joaquin Niemann.

The 19-year-old from Chile finished sixth in his professional debut at the Texas Open two weeks ago. – Reuters