Woods trying to rediscover his swing before Augusta
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — It’s all about the buildup right now for Tiger Woods. Missing out on the final two rounds at last week’s Genesis Open at Riviera, where Woods missed the cut, did not help as he tries to quickly ramp up for the Masters in April.
The next stop is this week’ s Honda Classic at PGA National, where Woods has not played since he withdrew with a back injury in 2014.
Woods will tee off at 7:45 a.m. Thursday on the 10th hole alongside Brandt Snedeker and Patton Kizzire. The three will start from the first tee on Friday at 12:35 p.m.
“I’m really looking forward to it; it’s nice to be home and playing this great event, and sleeping in my own bed,’’ Woods, who lives about 20 minutes away from the course, said Wednesday after playing his pro-am round. “It’s been a while since I’ve played this event, and really looking forward to it.’’
Woods laid out his sched- ule since Friday’s early exit in California.
“I just took a couple days off just to recover, recoup, start lifting again, start training, and then started hitting balls Monday afternoon lightly and then did a pretty good practice session Tuesday,’’ Woods said.
“I just felt like I just needed to continue going down the things I’ve been working on. I just needed to get better at [them]. It wasn’t very good on Friday, and more importantly, I didn’t putt very good. I didn’t feel good warming up when I was warming up for Friday’s round with my putter. I had terrible speed and it showed. I got exposed there on the back nine with three three-putts. I’ve worked a little on my putting since I’ve been home each and every day.’’
Mostly, Woods said, he’s getting acclimated to a playing routine again.
“I’m starting to get that feeling again of playing tournament golf, where each and every shot counts,’’ he said. “I’m looking at where I need to putt the golf ball. I’m looking at [weather] fore-
casts. Now, playing tournament golf I’m starting to get into that flow again. I missed it, and it’s becoming familiar again.’’
Woods is ranked 544th in the world, up from 570 a week ago. En route to missing the cut at Riviera, he hit just 13-of-28 fairways and 16-of-36 greens in regulation.
Those numbers won’t be good enough to make it to the weekend at demanding PGA National, where there are many water hazards and the wind is expected to blow all week.
In his first start of 2018, at Torrey Pines, Woods made the cut on the number and finished tied for 23rd despite hitting only 17-of56 fairways and 42-of-72 greens.
In all, Woods has played only 10 rounds of competitive golf since his fourth back surgery, and four of the those were at his own Hero World Challenge, a small-field event in the Bahamas in December.
He’s played six rounds of PGA Tour full-field-event golf in more than a year.
“The last two tournaments I’ve played have been really tough tests,” Woods said after missing the cut by four shots in Los Angeles. “Two tough venues … and it was tough on me.”
Whether or not he makes the cut this week might determine where Woods plays next. If he makes the cut, he’ll likely play only the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March before he plays the Masters. If he misses the cut, it’s possible Woods, needing as many tournament reps as possible, might play the Valspar in Tampa the week before Bay Hill.