After major letdown, Tiger Woods confronts one tough truth
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Friday night Tiger Woods concluded play at the 2024 PGA Championship. And for the first time in a long time, the golf world’s reaction to his round felt like one collective shrug.
For years now (for decades, really) we’ve hung on Woods’ every shot in these major championship starts. We’ve studied his gait. His ball speed. His putting stroke. In his latest comeback we’ve taken little moments (a flagged long iron, say) and wondered if they could turn to big moments. If he could just string enough of ’em together … could he win again?
But this week was different.
There were other factors involved, of course. Scottie Scheffler’s arrest loomed over the day’s proceedings, for one thing. And second-round tee time was delayed until mid-afternoon; by the time Woods addressed a half-empty press room, eight shots off the cut line, it was nearly 8 p.m. Asked to describe his week, he sighed and smiled.
“The week? It was a great week being here, being here at Valhalla, and unfortunately my scores did not indicate how the people treated me and how great a week I had,” he said. “Unfortunately, I hit too many shots.”
There was no denying that part. Woods had just birdied the 18th hole to close out a second-round six-over 77; paired with his first-round 72 that left him at 7 over par for the tournament, the same score as club pro sensation Michael Block.
Still, Woods showed enough form that optimists could find bright spots. For 16 holes on Thursday he was a relatively effortless one under par. He was moving well, too. I’m not saying he looked like a future major winner. But a major top-20er? You could talk yourself into that.
But then Woods showed enough weakness to feed the pessimists, too. First he failed to finish off his opening round, three-putting his final two holes from relatively innocuous spots on the green. Then he got off to a disastrous start to his second round, going par-triple-bogey-triple out of the gate. He played those six holes in nine over par. The other 30? A respectable 2 under.
In other words, there are no hot takes or strong conclusions to accompany Woods’ week. He’s not definitively done. He’s also not definitively back. This didn’t feel like a new beginning but it didn’t feel like the beginning of the end, either. He can walk okay. His swing looks good. But he looked rough around the edges, too. He played a stretch of disappointing golf and golf fans would like to see him better. On Friday night he made it clear that he expects better, too.
“I just kept making mistakes and [doing] things you can’t do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. And I just kept making them.” He sounded incredulous at the idea.
He, too, could find some bright spots. “Physically, yes, I am better than I was a month ago,” he said, referring to his made cut at the Masters. And he added that he’s still confident his game will get better in time. But at that thought — in time — Woods suddenly looked a little sad. Time remains an enemy.
“I just need to play more,” he said. “Unfortunately I just haven’t played a whole lot of tournaments — and there aren’t a lot of tournaments on my schedule, either. Hopefully everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst.”