TIGER: MAJOR TEST CAN LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD
TIGER WOODS is expecting more of a major-style test in the second FedEx Cup play-off event as he attempts to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.
Dustin Johnson moved back to the top of the world rankings after winning last week’s Northern Trust by 11 shots at TPC Boston, where his amazing total of 30 under par was just one shy of the PGA Tour record.
But Woods does not envisage similar scoring feats for the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, where just three players finished under par when it hosted the US Open in 2003.
‘This golf course is set up more like a US Open than a regular tour event, but this is the playoffs. It’s supposed to be hard,’ Woods told a pre-tournament press conference.
‘Last week I think might have been a little outlier because of the weather. The greens were soft and receptive, and the majority of the field went low and then DJ went absurdly low. That won’t be the case this week.’
Woods was the defending champion in the 2003 US Open and was tied for fifth at the halfway stage, but closing rounds of 75 and 72 dropped him into a share of 20th place, 11 shots behind winner Jim Furyk.
‘I probably remember maybe a couple shots from that Open,’ the 44-year-old added. ‘I went on YouTube and took a look at the golf course and the tournament set-up but it looks completely different. There are a lot more trees, the tees have been pushed back 50 yards, 60 yards on some of the holes.
‘If you can carry the ball about 315, 320 (yards) this course gets really, really opened up, but for me I can’t quite carry it that far, so it’ll be about putting the ball in play and playing from there.’
Woods dropped from 49th to 57th in the FedEx Cup standings following his tie for 58th at TPC Boston and needs a top-four finish at Olympia Fields to make the top 30 and qualify for the Tour Championship in Atlanta. ‘I have to play well,’ he added. ‘I have to earn my way to East Lake. I haven’t done so yet and need a big week this week. If I don’t, then I go home.
‘This is a big week for me. I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing and competing.’
Meanwhile, former Masters champion Danny Willett could enjoy two brand new experiences when he makes his European Tour return in the ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry, where Irish stars Brendan Lawlor and Paul Dunne will also be teeing it up.
Willett’s wife Nicole will make her caddying debut today as her husband gets a first competitive taste of a venue which has staged four Ryder Cups and last hosted the British Masters in 2008, the year Willett turned professional.
Asked what prompted the decision to give regular caddie Sam Haywood a week off, Willett said: ‘Sam’s worked a lot and has been away from his friends and family. He has done six-week stints in the USA with isolating both sides.
‘This week is one where I said, my wife and I haven’t had more than two hours alone in seven months – we’ve had the kids on our own (in America) since January – so I said we’ll use this to have a bit of time together on our own.
‘Luckily we’ve got a nice draw with Bernd (Wiesberger) and Laney (caddie Jamie Lane), who’s a good pal of ours, and (Matt) Wallace. So hopefully they’ll be raking bunkers for me and making sure she’s looked after.’
The Masters, which Willett won in 2016, will take place in November rather than April and without spectators at Augusta National due to the pandemic.
‘Obviously with no patrons there this year it is going to be strange,’ Willett added. ‘Luckily I’ve played it with nobody there, I’m not sure if many guys will have done that.
‘It’s a very different-looking golf course. I’ve played it in December and early February as well. It will be a few degrees colder and windier, it will obviously be a different course to what people have seen.’