Tiger Woods’ Round Is Once Again Sprinkled With Thrills And Spills
Tiger Woods’ opening round at the Genesis Open was yet another sprinkled with thrills and spills. The driver was as wayward as ever but fortunately for him, Grinding Tiger kept the round from imploding. Seriously, his scrambling and short game are a far cry from those shocking chilly dips he suffered from last year.
SI.com’s Alan Shipnuck has the details along with one drive that was so far right of target that it astonished a former Tour player.
Even the casual observer can detect that Woods is generating more power with his arms and his speed has returned. He blasted a 320-yard 3-wood at No. 13 that split the fairway and set up a birdie. He made five birdies on the day. His distance control with his wedges looked sharp and his short game saved him from many sins, most notably a delicate flop shot at the par-3 4th hole. The chip yips that had infected his game during his previous comeback attempt no longer appear to be a concern. His putter delivered from short range; he didn’t miss in eight attempts between 4-8 feet.
When Woods sprayed a tee shot to the right off the 12th tee, he aimed left and lashed at the ball with an Arnold Palmeresque whirlybird finish (see above). Later, when his tee shot at the fifth buried in a thick bed of grass, Woods hacked violently at it. No one ever would have guessed that at the Presidents Cup in October, he had just begun hitting 60-degree wedges and wondered whether he would be able to mount another comeback.
But his driver, with which could barely find the planet in San Diego last month, had another case of the rights. Woods launched one so far right at No. 9 that it landed in a right fairway bunker on the 10th hole. Former PGA Tour pro Joe Ogilvie happened to be walking by at that moment and said, “I couldn’t hit it there if I aimed there.” Woods keeps stubbornly lashing away with the big stick. Remember when nobody could drive it like him? Woods continues to be much more effective when he hits three-wood or an iron off the tee, and it makes you wonder when he will start shaping shots to get into play rather than trying to keep up with Thomas and McIlroy in the driving distance stats.
“He’s obviously not driving it well,” Justin Thomas said.
“It doesn’t feel like five years ago that he won five tournaments and was Player of the Year,” Rory McIlroy said. “He remembers how to do this and his body’s allowing him to do this, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll make a little bit of noise this year.”
Woods tees off at 2:02 CST.
