Tiger still learning, dreaming
Tiger Woods’ opening act to playing professional golf began on a historic stage in the shadow of Hollywood in 1992.
Act III of his latest comeback begins in the same theater starting Thursday.
Riviera Country Club, where legends such as Hogan, Nelson, Snead, Watson, Faldo and Mickelson were all victorious, is the California setting for the Genesis Open and Woods’ continued return to facing the best players in the world.
It was at Riviera where Woods made his pro debut as a sophomore in high school 26 years ago. Playing as an amateur, he missed the cut but left with a wealth of knowledge he’d tap into as he pursued his dream to play as a pro.
The winner of 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 majors is still learning ahead of his first start at Riviera since 2006. After spinal fusion surgery to his troublesome back in April 2017, Woods continued to educate himself on what he can and cannot do with his new body. He learned a bit when he tied for ninth in the unofficial Hero World Challenge in December and learned a tad more last month when he finished tied for 23rd in the Farmers Insurance Open, his first start on the PGA Tour in a year.
“Eventually I’d like to win tournaments,” Woods, now 42, said in a news conference Tuesday after a nine-hole practice round with Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau. “I am trying to get through that process to get to that point. I’m making small, subtle changes in my posture and my swing because I’m starting to understand my body a little bit more because this back is just different than it used to be.
“Those are things that I could never have figured out on my own, not in a tournament setting, because in a tournament setting things are revved up and I could feel some of the things that were off and was able to work on them. The more tournaments I play in I’ll get used to that. But I don’t want to play too much. This is all still new to me. And I want to be smart about it.”
on his return from back surgery
He’s also trying to get comfortable with Riviera, where he’s never been at ease. He has never won in 11 starts in this tournament, and it is the only event in which he has double-figure starts without a win.
After his practice round Tuesday, he said he had forgotten how much the nearby Pacific Ocean affects putts as he three-putted four times. He said he’ll do more homework in Wednesday’s proam to familiarize himself with all the changes to the course since he’s last been here 12 years ago — changes to the length, the size of the greens, the depth of the bunkers, the additional pin placements.
“I love the golf course, I love the layout, it fits my eye — and I play it awful,” Woods said. “It’s just one of those weird things.”
Woods said he built up some confi- dence in the Farmers Insurance Open, where he shot 72-71-70-72. He said only his feet felt sore afterward, because he wasn’t used to walking (he walked 99 holes counting the pro-am and a ninehole practice round) since he played so many practice rounds ahead of his return using a golf cart.
Since the Farmers, Woods addressed issues he had with his driver. In the Bahamas in the Hero Challenge, he drove the ball beautifully on a much wider course. In the Famers at Torrey Pines in San Diego, he hit only 17 of 56 fairways and had to rely on superb scrambling skills.
He has changed the shaft in his driver and added a touch more loft to the face.
“I was able to hit lots of golf balls and work on my game,” he said. “Tried some different stuff out. Mainly I just tried to clean up my swing. We could all see how bad I was driving it. So I was able to clean that up a little bit and still keep my putting sharp.”
Despite his extended absences in recent years — and his world ranking of No. 550 — Woods remains the headliner this week in a star-studded field that includes world No. 1 and defending champion Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.
But Woods is tempering his expectations amid all the buzz in the City of Stars.
“I’m just starting back,” he said. “I’ve been away from the game a pretty long time. I have a lot of room for improvement and I have a long way to go.”
“Eventually I’d like to win tournaments. I am trying to get through that process to get to that point. I’m making small, subtle changes in my posture and my swing because I’m starting to understand my body a little bit more because this back is just different than it used to be.”
Tiger Woods