Woods stumbles with closing 71 in Boston
NORTON, Mass. — Tiger Woods emerged from the scoring area at the Dell Technologies Championship late Monday afternoon after signing for an even-par 71.
He went straight to a fence-lined group of autograph seekers and signed for a few minutes. Then he disappeared back inside of the clubhouse at TPC Boston. There wasn’t much left to say after another disappointing round and, for the first time this year, Woods said nothing, turning down all interview requests.
It was a miserable day on the course amid steamy temperatures. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory in the area through 8 p.m. And Woods’ patience finally reached a boiling point.
Caddie Joe LaCava also turned down an interview request after an ugly finish that included a double bogey at the par-3 16th. Woods aimed straight at the tucked left pin and missed by a fraction. His ball ended up in the water.
His 8-foot birdie attempt at the
par-5 18th lipped out of the cup, and that was the story this week.
Woods matched a season high by hitting 71.43 percent of fairways and ranked 24th in the field in strokes gained approach the green.
He gave himself plenty of birdie looks and got nothing out of them.
Woods still has at least one FedExCup Playoffs event to go and remains on track for The Tour Championship at
25th in the standings.
Round 1 of the BMW Championship in Philadelphia is three days away.
There’s another question that seems relevant at this juncture, with Woods less than one month removed from a solo second at the PGA Championship and having just added his 10th
top-25 finish in 16 starts this season. Is it possible to be grateful and greedy at the same time?
Let’s think about where Woods was a year ago. He sent out an innocuous tweet on Aug. 31, 2017, with a video of himself chipping in athletic shorts and a cutoff tee. “Dr. gave me the OK to start pitching,” the tweet read.
That’s when most started really following this comeback with varying degrees of curiosity.
Woods admitted this week that he was “very nervous” then because his fusion surgery was the last chance to keep playing competitively and he didn’t want to screw it up. He didn’t want to be in pain anymore either. He went on to say he’s still pumping the brakes on the course sometimes.
“Every now and again this entire year, I’ve probably golfed and played a different shot here and there because there is a bit of me that doesn’t want to feel that way again,” Woods said.
It also indicates something we’ve been learning all year — this is still a work in progress.
The swing looked really good in Boston and has for some time. The new TaylorMade Juno prototype putter didn’t look bad — he ranked 36th with 0.753 strokes gained putting — but it didn’t give him major momentum when he needed it.
Woods recently said he views this as one of his best seasons, despite the fact that he’s never played this many events in one year without at least one win. And he’s talked time and time again about how blessed he feels for the chance to compete again.
Bryson DeChambeau was happy to talk Monday after winning for the second week in a row. He was also beaming after shooting 8-under 63 Sunday while paired with Woods.
DeChambeau is one of numerous players Woods has taken under his wing this year. He’s endeared himself to new fans by doing that, and it’s clear he’s legitimately grateful for the chance to take on that role.
It’s also clear how badly he wants to trade places with DeChambeau one of these weeks, how important winning still is to him and how frustrating it can be to finish anywhere else.
That much goes without saying.