Monterey Herald

Struggle for Tiger and a putt at the end to break 80

- By Doug Ferguson

Tiger Woods had reason to wonder if making the cut at the PGA Championsh­ip was worth it.

One day after a series of clutch putts and shortgame wizardry allowed Woods to reach the weekend at Southern Hills, his third round concluded with another big moment.

He made a 5-foot par putt to break 80.

“I didn't do anything right,” Woods said after signing for a 9-over 79, by two shots his worst score in the PGA Championsh­ip. “I didn't hit many good shots. Consequent­ly, I ended up with a pretty high score.”

It wasn't his worst in a major. There was that 81 in the 2002 British Open in the raging wind and bitter cold of Muirfield that ended his hopes for a Grand Slam. He had an 80 at Chambers Bay in the 2015 U.S. Open while recovering from the first of what would be five back surgeries.

This was painful to watch, and not just the sloppy play with wedges and two water balls.

Much like the weekend at the Masters, his first competitio­n since the February 2021 car crash that mangled his right leg, the limp became more pronounced as the day went on.

And the weather — the high 50s, compared with a heat index that approached triple digits earlier in the week — didn't help.

“You feel so sorry for him having to go through this,” said Shaun Norris, the South African who played with Woods before a large gallery, but certainly not the size of the previous two days.

“But then again, you also see the type of person that he is, that he grinds through everything and pushes himself, even all the pain and that,” Norris said. “It's not easy to see a guy like him have to go through that and struggle like that. He's swinging it nicely, and I think he'll be back once he gets back to normal health and sorts out all the problems.”

Woods chose not to speak to the media, instead offering a few thoughts to a pool reporter. He didn't get into one of the clear problems, which was distance control. Whether the ball wasn't flying as far because of the cold or his speed was slower than he realized, there were two occasions when Woods was stunned to see where his ball landed.

One was on the par-3 sixth hole, when Woods' shot not only came up short, it found the water. He put his next shot short into the shaggy collar, flubbed a chip and walked off with a triple bogey.

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