Tiger Woods is hoping that his whole game comes together at Shinnecock Hills this week as he makes his first start in the US Open since missing the cut in 2015.
“Golf is always frustrating. There’s always something that isn’t quite right … and that’s where we, as players, have to make adjustments. You’ve seen the tournaments I’ve played in this year, there’s always something. Hopefully, this is one of those weeks where I put it all together and even it out, and we’ll see what happens,” said the the 14-time Major winner.
“I’ve given myself chances to win, which I didn’t know if I was ever going to do again … but, then again, not happy with the fact that I didn’t win because I loved how it felt being there,” he added.
Woods has chalked up three top 10s in 10 starts so far on the 2017-2018 PGA Tour season in his much heralded comeback from spinal surgery. At the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago where he finished T23, Woods led the field in several ball-striking categories but was let down by his putter, ranking second from the bottom in Strokes Gained: Putting.
“What I did at Memorial, I just didn’t feel comfortable over it. I couldn’t see my lines. And those greens were quick, and I just didn’t feel comfortable and didn’t hit many good putts. I hit a lot of bad ones.
“This is a different week, different set-up, different grass. This is what I basically grew up on out there on the West Coast. Poa gets bumpy, and it requires a lot of patience. A lot of times you can hit great putts on poa and it doesn’t go in. The key is to hit putts solid and see what happens,” noted Woods, who won his national Open three times in 2000, 2002 and 2008.
Woods begins his 20th US Open campaign tomorrow in the marquee first round flight with the current top two players in the world, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, at 1.47pm (Malaysian time – 1.47am, Friday).
