Physically he’s fine, but Tiger Woods still showing rust at BMW Championship
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Tiger Woods' 40-foot birdie putt on No. 3 at BMW Championship
MEDINAH, Ill. – The good news for Tiger Woods after his opening 1-under 71 on Thursday at the BMW Championship? He didn’t experience any issues with the oblique strain that forced him to withdraw a week ago.
“That was a positive,” he said.
The bad news? Well, parts of his game remain rusty. For instance, consider his approach shot into the par-4 fourth hole at Medinah.
As he stood over the shot, Woods had plenty of momentum. He had birdied two of his first three holes – a 5-footer at the first hole, then a 40-footer at the third. He then blistered his tee shot at the fourth, his 300-yard drive setting him up in the middle of the fairway.
With 154 yards to the hole, Tiger took aim at the flag tucked near the right-side bunker. His shot came up short and bounded into the sand. He did well to blast out inside 6 feet but missed the par-saving putt.
Although he bounced back with a birdie at the par-5 fifth, the momentum had disappeared. He played his final 13 holes in 1 over and never could rekindle the spark produced by his quick start.
“It’s just not sharp,” Woods said about his wedge play. “I’m trying to make changes in my swing and it’s just not quite there, and so it’s just one of those things. I need reps, and I just haven’t really put in a lot of reps.”
Indeed. Thursday’s round was Woods’ fourth competitive round on the PGA TOUR in the last nine weeks. While pleased with his driving – “The fact that I was able to make the proper swing and hit some of the shots – I was a little bit uneasy about that because I hadn’t done it,” he said – Woods knows he can’t afford to give away strokes in hopes of playing his way into the TOUR Championship.
He started the week ranked 38th in FedExCup points and likely needs a solo 11th or better to move inside the top 30 who advance to East Lake.
“I made too many little mistakes around the greens,” Woods said. “I had a three-putt (at the par-4 ninth) and had a couple of up-and-downs I should have made and missed a few putts I’ve been making. …
“The whole field seems like it’s under par and we just didn’t do it today.”
Asked what changes he’s making in his swing, Woods replied: “Trying to change my plane a little bit, trying to get back to how I kind of had it at Augusta. It was working pretty good there.”
It didn’t work so well on Thursday. But at least he’s still in the field and planning to play Friday. For now, consider that an improvement.
