Tiger Woods brings a buzz back to golf
FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 8,
2014 file photo, Tiger Woods winces after tee shot on the sixth hole
during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at
Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. The last time Tiger Woods was seen
at a golf tournament was at the PGA Championship when he missed the
cut. He returns this week at the Hero World Challenge in Windermere,
Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
After
hitting a fairway metal off the 10th tee, Woods gingerly stepped
through a flower bed and then hopped down a 4-foot wall and trotted to
the clubhouse to use the bathroom. It was that kind of leap - from a
bunker at Firestone - that jarred back muscles and ultimately forced yet
another injury-induced layoff.
Woods
swung freely and easily during the pro-am at the Hero World Challenge,
his first time walking 18 holes since he missed the cut Aug. 9 at the
PGA Championship.
''It felt
good to be out there,'' Woods said. ''I took that much time off right
after the PGA and built up my body and made a few adjustments on my
swing and hit some good shots today.''
The
real test is Thursday in the first round of an unofficial event with 18
elite players from the top 50 in the world, and one big buzz because of
the tournament host.
''I
think if he starts swinging it better and starts feeling good about
what he's doing again, it won't take long for him to be at the top of
the game again,'' Steve Stricker said.
Health no longer seems to be the issue. The biggest question is the swing.
Woods
parted with swing coach Sean Foley and has brought on Chris Como, who
walked the pro-am with him and occasionally chatted with him in the
fairway. Woods said he looked at tape dating all the way back to his
amateur days and described his goal for a new swing as ''new, but old.''
Stricker saw him briefly on the practice range earlier in the week and felt as though he was looking back in time.''Looks a lot similar to early 2000s to me, from the side when I was watching,'' Stricker said.
That
was when many believe Woods was at his best. He won seven majors in a
four-year stretch from 1999-2002, and no one was close to him in the
game. Woods turns 39 at the end of the month, and he joked Tuesday that
''Father Time remains undefeated.'' He physically is not the same player
he was at age 24.
''Looked like the swing was going through a lot freer, like it was on a better path,'' Stricker said.
How long it takes for it to translate to low scores or even trophies remains to be seen. It took Woods at least a year before he was up to speed on wholesale changes under Butch Harmon, Hank Haney and Foley.
''This is what, his fourth teacher?'' Stricker said. ''I'm sure he's still going to have some issues going forward.''
The tournament has moved from Sherwood Country Club in California to the course that Woods called home for 16 years. Isleworth is considered a tough golf course, though there are more forward tees in play to help with gallery movement. Woods is used to playing it all the way back and smashing driver. He wound up in a few bunkers Wednesday that typically are not in play for him.
The field is missing the new No. 1 - Rory McIlroy - along with Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, who rarely play.
Zach
Johnson beat Woods in a playoff last year at Sherwood after holing out
for par from a drop zone on the 18th hole. Hard to imagine that would be
the last time Woods had a top-10 finish. Then again, no one expected
the back pain that led to surgery, and recovery issues that kept him out
of golf the last four months.
His
appearance has led to the most media interest in golf since the Ryder
Cup. All 50 seats were occupied for Woods' news conference on Tuesday,
with 30 more people lining both sides of the tent.
''As
a fan of the game and a guy that admires what he's done, I would be
interested to see what he does this week,'' Johnson said. ''Just glad
he's playing and I hope he's healthy. That's the main thing.''
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