When 79-time PGA TOUR winner, Tiger Woods, was under the gun and needed multiple birdies with holes running out to make the cut … he provided vintage drama.
While Woods used to bring the noise as he pushed himself to the top of leaderboards this time around it was all about the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Classic.
After multiple back surgeries, Woods hadn’t made the third round in a PGA Tour event since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015.
And he didn’t make it easy on himself to break the drought.
A 2-over first nine holes on the North Course at Torrey left him needing to play his final nine holes on Friday in at least 3 under.
Woods created some old school roars with three big birdies in seven holes, and as such, the weekend was on the beautiful Pacific Ocean horizon for the two-time FedExCup winner.
But of course, it can’t be that ho-hum with Woods.
A bogey on his penultimate hole set up a birdie-or-bust moment on the par-5 ninth hole.
A brilliant lag putt from outside 80 feet left him just a short putt to get the job done and the throng of people lining the entire hole and standing as many as 20-deep went nuts when he tapped it home.
1-under 71. 1-under 143. T65.
While he’s 10 shots off Ryan Palmer’s lead – Tiger. Is. Back.
‘I just fought hard, that’s something that I’ve done my entire career, and this is no different,’ Woods said post-round.
‘I’ve been away from the game for a couple years, so it’s nice to get out there and just compete again.
‘I’m still getting used to my feels, but that just takes more time under the fire. I still need more rounds under my belt.’
Woods will get two more on the South Course this weekend.
He continues to learn how his fused back affects his game.
‘How far certain shots are going, what my swing feels are going to be for certain shots, certain trajectories, those are all things a lot of these guys have already built in, they’ve been playing. I’m just starting out,’ Woods explained.
‘It’s one thing to do it at home, it’s totally another thing to do it out here. I, for one reason, hit the ball further in the competition because of adrenaline and that was the case, but how much further?’
One thing is for sure, he will be looking to hit more than the three of 14 fairways he hit Friday.
Woods admitted to having ‘the pulls’ off the tee and then when trying to correct it, he ended up blocking some right.
It will be another weekend focus.
Woods still believes he can win the tournament, but to do so, he has to do the one thing that makes him the most uncomfortable on the course right now.
Shoot low scores.
‘These guys are all going low and I haven’t done that in a long time,’ he said.
‘I haven’t played the Tour in awhile and I’m looking forward to just kind of progressing, just keep playing tournaments and get everything kind of situated.
‘Everyone’s so stacked up, anybody can win the tournament. Hopefully tomorrow I can go out there and post a low number.’
Credit: PGA TOUR
