Tiger: On track for Augusta

This week was another big positive for Tiger Woods’ latest comeback, and he has admitted his own expectations of his chances at Augusta in April have gone up. 

If it hadn’t been for the three hole stretch aptly named The Bear Trap, Woods could well have found himself in the play-off with Justin Thomas and List at the Honda Classic. Instead, Woods had to settle for solo 12th, having played the 15th-17th holes in 8-over-par for the week, and the rest of the course 8-under.

It was a week where once again driving proved to be the weaker part of his game (although he was 2nd in driving distance Woods was T45 for driving accuracy), yet numerous impressive pin-high iron shots put him as the leader of proximity to the hole stats, and once again he scrambled well (T11). 

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“I thought I played well this week, I really did,” said Woods. 

“I didn’t play the last few holes well the last couple days, but overall I’m pleased with the progress I made and gave myself a chance at it. I was three under with four holes to go and if I had gotten two or three more coming in, I could have posted early.

“I feel very happy the way I played the entire week. I really controlled my ball flight. This wind, you can get exposed pretty easily and I felt like I had control. The solid thing about this week is I missed the ball in the correct spots.

“I had better control of my ball, especially in this wind. It’s not easy to do and I was able to do that most of the week. That’s something I’m very proud of. Each and every time I’ve come out to tournaments, I’m getting the feel of the round faster.

“I feel like each time out I’ve got better and I’ve got more of a feel for playing tournament golf again. The last couple of days, it felt easy to play tournament golf. The warm up felt good, I got into the flow of the round, and I could find the rhythm of the rounds faster. The more golf I’m playing tournament-wise, the faster I’m able to click into the feel of the round

He is next expected to tee up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational – a place where he has won a record eight times – as he puts his focus on the first major of the year. And Woods feels confident his game is on track to be ready for Augusta. 

“My expectations have gone up,” he added. “I’m hitting the ball better. I knew I could putt it, I knew I could chip it, but I didn’t know how well I was going to hit it.

“I’ve had to get used to certain things. I can’t do what I used to do and I can’t hit the same shots, the same body positions. They are different. But I’m getting more accustomed to it and I’m very pleased about what has transpired, especially this week.

“I need to keep playing tournament golf, but I need to keep building on it, keep building my body, keep building towards April. That was the goal when I first came back. I told you guys at Torrey, I’m trying to get everything ready for April and I feel like I’m right on track for that.”