Tiger Woods knows he’s competitively rusty compared to the majority of this week’s PGA Championship field highest odds offers. However, that doesn’t mean he expects any less of himself.
Tiger Woods opened the 106th PGA Championship with a 1-over 72, a mixed bag of a morning in Louisville, Kentucky. Battling through wayward tee shots, he managed to stay around par for most of his opening round at Valhalla Golf Club. Midway through his second nine, he caught fire and moved into red figures, but closed with back-to-back three-putt bogeys, leaving a sour taste in his mouth overnight. He sits 10 strokes off the pace set by Xander Schauffele, who carded a 9-under 62, setting a PGA Championship single-round record.
The day mirrored his first round at last month’s Masters (1-over 73), with an up-and-down performance but an end result near the projected cut line. Woods followed with a second-round 72 at the Masters to make the cut, setting a tournament record with his 24th consecutive made cut. He aims to play through the weekend for a second straight major championship, hoping for a faster start on Friday than he had on Thursday, where he was fortunate to escape his first three holes at just 1 over before finding his rhythm.
“It took me probably three holes to get back into the competitive flow again and get a feel for hitting the ball out there in competition, adrenaline, temperatures, green speeds,” Woods said after his opening round. “These are all things that normally I adjust to very quickly, and it just took me a few holes to get into it.
“I am getting stronger for sure… Each day is a little bit different. Some days, it’s better than others. It’s just the way it is. My body is just that way. Some days, it feels great, and other days, a bit of a struggle.”
Woods’ history echoes throughout Valhalla, as his 2000 PGA Championship victory here (outlasting Bob May in a three-hole playoff) marked the third leg of the “Tiger Slam,” which he completed at the 2001 Masters. Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open and The Open by a combined 23 shots before the veteran May pushed him to 75 holes at Valhalla. While it might be a tall task to expect Woods to hoist another Wanamaker Trophy this weekend, making the cut for a second straight major championship is certainly within reach.
“I think that I’ve made a few cuts in a row, what was it, 140-some odd,” Woods said Thursday. “So you have to just grind it out. It’s a marathon. Major championships are a long grind. It’s just plotting along. It’s not a sprint. It’s just a grind.
“You can’t win a tournament unless you make the cut. That’s the whole idea: get to the weekend so that you can participate and have a chance to win. I’ve been on the cut number and have won tournaments, or I’ve been ahead and leading tournaments and I’ve won tournaments. But you have to get to the weekend in order to win a golf tournament.”
