Woods to play more golf to improve form
Fourteen-time major winner Tiger Woods has said he will play more golf this summer to improve his world ranking.
Woods, the world number one a year ago, is now ranked 181 after finishing last of those who had made the cut at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
The 39-year-old endured the worst round of his career on Saturday, carding a 13-over-par 85 on day three.
“My back is good enough. I am fully committed to playing more golf all this summer,” said the American.
Woods, who has played only five tournaments this season, said he would now start listening to his caddie, Joey LaCava.
“Joey keeps telling me this past week, ‘take it easy on yourself, you haven’t played much golf ’,” said Woods, who will play four times in under two months from next week.
“You never played last year and you haven’t played much this year. Tournament golf takes time’.
“I hate to say it when he’s right, because as a player you always want to be right, but he is right.”
Woods, who won his last major seven years ago in the US Open at Torrey Pines, is changing his swing.
ifth-seeded Bernard Tomic advanced to the second round of the Mercedes Cup by beating Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (5) yesterday at the grass-court Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
Tomic, Australia’s highest-ranked player, has made good starts in most of his tournaments this year but passed the quarterfinals only once.
Eighth-seeded Viktor Troicki also advanced, beating Croatian teenager Borna Coric 6-2, 6-0. Coric won only one point on Troicki’s serve in the second set.
German qualifier Mischa Zverev defeated seventh-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 7-6 (4), 6-2, and other winners included Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria.
Baghdatis, who compensated for 11 double-faults with 10 aces in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Lukas Rosol, will next play top-seeded Rafael Nadal, who had a bye into the second round.
Troicki will next meet wild card Alexander Zverev, Mischa Zverev’s younger brother, who rallied to beat qualifier Mate Pavic 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Andreas Seppi cruised past Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-2 and will meet Mischa Zverev in the second round.