Tiger can see his future now
ST. LOUIS —In February, Tiger Woods walked away from Riviera Country Club on the Friday afternoon of the Genesis Open and knew little about what his golf future held.
Winless since 2013 and coming off two years of recovery from disc fusion surgery, Woods missed the cut by shooting an ugly 76 in the second round in L.A., and hit fewer than half the greens in regulation over two days.
The round he shot on Sunday at Bellerive Country Club in the PGA Championship – a 6-under 64 that pushed him to a solo second behind Brooks Koepka – was impossible to imagine.
“I didn’t know what my schedule would be,” Woods said on Sunday, after he’d created the Tiger roars of old. “I didn’t know how many tournaments I would play this year, or if I would even play. So each tournament brought its own challenges.
“And so at the beginning of the year, if you would say, yeah, I would have a legit chance to win the last two major championships … with what swing? I didn’t have a swing at the time. I had no speed. My short game wasn’t there yet. My putting was OK.
“But, god, I hadn’t played in two years. So it’s been a hell of a process for sure.”
Woods’ future is much clearer now.
With his finish, he rose to 20th in the FedEx Cup points race, and that puts him in good position to play in the season-ending Tour Championship for the first time since 2013.
RYDER CUP RACE
There were no changes in the standings for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and the automatic spots were established. For the U.S., in order: Koepka, Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson.
SCOTT’S STRONG WEEK
Woods and Koepka are having redemptive seasons coming back from injuries. Adam Scott was encouraged by his thirdplace finish — three behind Koepka — because he’s struggled so badly with his game for nearly two years.
With 65s in the second and third round, the 2013 Masters champion got into the final group with Koepka. The result was his best of the season and only his second top-10 of the year.