Woods, Spieth, Stenson to play together
Tiger Woods will be grouped with Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson as he makes his Valspar Championship debut on Thursday.
PALM HARBOR, FLA. — Jordan Spieth is among the young stars in golf with only a glimpse — if even that — of how Tiger Woods could take over a tournament with his game and appeal.
That moment for Spieth came in a practice round at Muirfield Village, with Woods as his teammate.
Spieth was a 20-yearold in the 2013 Presidents Cup, playing with Steve Stricker against Woods and Matt Kuchar in a modified alternate shot. They were taken by cart to start on the par-5 seventh hole.
“I stood on that tee,” Spieth said Wednesday. “We were trying to get off quickly in front of the groups, and I remember being unbelievably nervous on that shot, and for most of the shots I hit in the round — even though it’s a practice round, and he was my teammate. They went eagle-birdiebirdie or something like that to start. I thought, ‘Man, this must be what it’s been like for the last 20 years for guys.”
Spieth made a hole-inone that day on the 12th hole.
He has played with Woods seven times since, including the third round of the British Open at Hoylake, and Woods has never had the lower score in those occasions.
They play again Thursday in the opening round of the Valspar Championship.
“I’ll feel probably more nervous on the first tee tomorrow than I do on the first tee normally, just given the setting,” Spieth said.
The setting is Woods returning to golf, and while it is nothing new at this point, it is no less the attraction. He has never played the Valspar Championship, and the last time he was at Innisbrook before this week was in 1996 for a mixedteam event during the silly season that no longer exists.
Woods was nine tournaments (and two victories) into his pro career at that point.
In some respects, he is starting over. This is his fourth PGA Tour event since returning from a fourth back surgery, and it was only six months ago that Woods wasn’t even certain he would be able to play again at a high level.
He is making progress. He finished seven shots behind at Torrey Pines (a tie for 23rd) and eight shots behind at the Honda Classic (12th). In between, he missed the cut at Riviera, which is one reason he is at Innisbrook for the first time.