Tiger purrs about his ’18
NORTON — Tiger Woods has been the focal point of the golf world for more than 20 years. Even though he is not the dominating presence he was before injuries began to take their toll, he still drives the TV ratings and why there will be more people at TPC Boston this weekend than the past few years.
The fact he is still able to do so even surprises him. He tried to come back in January 2017 at Torrey Pines, only to miss the cut by 4 shots. He had a fourth surgery on his back that April.
Even he didn’t know how much he had left.
“The hardest part is I didn’t have any inkling of what this year might be. Normally, if I have a good offseason or a good practice or feel healthy I can reasonably expect what might happen the following year,” Woods said. “This year was a complete unknown. I didn’t know if I was going to play. I didn’t know how many events I was going to play. What swing I was going to use. I didn’t know any of these things and a lot of it has been adjustments on the fly.”
Woods is 25th in the FedEx Cup standings. In 15 events, he was second at the Valspar at Innisbrook in March and the PGA Championship three weeks ago when he closed with a 6-under-par 64.
He has three other top 10s, including a tie for sixth at the Open Championship.
Even though the winner’s circle has eluded him thus far in his first full season since 2013, also his last appearance at TPC Boston, it has been a successful one in his mind.
“This has been one of my best years, considering that I didn’t know what I was going to do. I just didn’t have a clue,” he said. “The fact that I’ve been able to make it this far is very exciting to me. I have a bright future ahead of me because at this point last year that wasn’t the case, (I) didn’t know.”
This weekend will be the fifth time this season playing in consecutive weeks, and he has finished in the top 12 each time. He will go for three in a row next week as the top 70 advance to Philadelphia.
Should he stay inside the top 30 he would also have a spot in the seasonending Tour Championship in Atlanta two weeks later. Woods also spoke confidently about adding a tournament the following week — the Ryder Cup.
“I know that my golf is not going to be much, if anything, post-Ryder Cup. And not just myself, but for a lot of guys,” he said. “We’re just pushing it to that point and then shutting it down, and just trying to get to that point so that when I shut it down I’ll be able to shut it down.”
Woods said he and Bryson DeChambeau might be opposites on the golf course, but mesh when together and could create a formidable tandem should Jim Furyk choose to use two of his captain’s picks on them.
“He and I playing together would be fantastic. He’s competitive. He’s fiery. He’s got all things you want when you play a team match,” Woods said. “I know that we think about the game completely differently. I’m very much a feel-oriented guy and he’s very much a numbers guy, but for some reason we get along great and we work.”
Woods has played well at TPC Boston in the past, finishing in the top 11 in seven of his nine appearances. He won by 2 shots in 2006 and was tied for second in 2004 and 2007, the first year of the playoff format.
“I think that in general it sets up for a guy that hits it long and high,” he said. “And I’ve done that pretty much my whole career.”