NO SWEAT TIGER
Woods toilet break and change of shirt inspire his fightback
After only two holes of his opening round in the 100th US PGA Championship yesterday, tiger Woods was already three over par and muttering oaths of selfloathing as he disappeared into a portable toilet.
Heaven knows what happened during that quiet moment to himself, but he came out wearing a new shirt and played like a new man.
Not Superman — the change of costume wasn’t that dramatic — but certainly gutsy enough to shoot three under par for his next 16 holes and play his way back into the tournament. His level par 70 left him five off the early pace set by fellow American rickie fowler and three behind the other 42-year- old who has made a dramatic comeback this year — Ian Poulter.
Alongside tiger, both on the course and the leaderboard, was rory McIlroy.
But while Woods was rightly proud of his salvage efforts, the Northern Irishman had the distracted air of a man who’d seen a chance slip away.
As fowler said after his round: ‘this was the morning to take advantage and make your mark.’
McIlroy ( right) didn’t quite manage that, despite seeing a couple of early birdie putts in the 12ft range find the bottom of the hole. Wearing anti-inflammatory tape owing to a little soreness in his forearm, he finished up with nine straight pars and didn’t birdie either of the two par fives.
‘I didn’t think it was that easy out there, to be honest,’ he said. ‘Of course, I’d like to have taken advantage of the two par fives and there were a few putts that didn’t go in. But it was important to stay patient.’
Despite the fact the pair teed off at 8.23am alongside defending champion Justin thomas — who shot 69 — there were astonishing scenes to greet them on their first hole, the 10th.
this was tiger’s first tournament round in the Gateway City and clearly no- one wanted to miss it.
Looking down the fairway, you would have thought it was a ryder Cup rather than the opening skirmishes in the fourth major.
for two holes, Woods played like he used to at the ryder Cup. His opening drive finished in thick rough and resulted in a bogey.
What happened at the 11th was shocking. A short par four, his wedge approach never looked like carrying the hazard in front of the green and duly finished in the water for a double bogey. then came the bathroom break and the change of clothes and performance.
Woods was helped by the sort of outrageous par at the 15th that gives every player a lift.
A hooked drive into the trees was followed by a smothered iron shot. He was still in the trees with 68 yards left for his third shot but played it immaculately to 3ft and walked to the 16th tee marking down the same par-four score as McIlroy, who had played the hole beautifully.
No wonder McIlroy gave tiger a bit of light-hearted grief.
So it continued, the comeback from the depths.
‘I just told myself to keep grinding and chipping away,’ said Woods. ‘It looked like anything could happen the way I played the first two holes, but I did enough by the end to keep me in it.’
Poulter decided to fly home to Orlando rather than come here following his disappointing final round at firestone on Sunday, when a 74 dropped him from tied second after 54 holes to tied 10th.
He figured three nights in his own bed for the first time since May 20th would be more beneficial and so it proved, as his rich vein of consistent form continued.
In his last 13 events, Poulter has won once, missed just one halfway cut and finished outside the top 30 in only one other event to move to the cusp of an automatic ryder Cup place. ‘I’m obviously pleased with my form overall but I’m a little frustrated I haven’t finished off the odd tournament here and there with better golf — like Sunday at firestone,’ he said. ‘I’ve got two tournaments left with regard to the ryder Cup and of course I want to be there.’ He will be, either by his own efforts or a wild card, as will his playing partner fowler. the Californian was by the 18th green at this event last year to watch his great friend thomas win, just as he was when Jordan Spieth won his majors. With eight top-five finishes of his own in the Grand Slam events but no wins, he has become a classic golf bridesmaid. Now he has one more chance to have his buddies waiting by the 18th green for him before he turns 30 in December. fowler is one of the nicest men in the game and no one would begrudge him if this turns out to be his moment.