Tiger Woods comments on his future: “I certainly can win again.”

Tiger Woods has taken another major step in his PGA TOUR comeback, qualifying for this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. His confidence is sky high, and he believes he can win again at the highest level.

In less than a year, Tiger Woods has gone from hoping he could play on the PGA Tour to believing he really can win again. His latest convincer was the British Open where he was tied for the lead for a short time.

“You know, I was kind of laughing at it because most of the media at the time were skeptical of my game plan,” he explained about that tournament. “My game plan played myself right into a lead. So that part I was very positive about. But just the way I made a couple mistakes there at 11 and 12 ( in the final round) ended up costing me a chance of winning the tournament.”

The British Open was one of those Charlie Brown trying to kick the football moments for Woods. So close, but so painfully unrealized. He thought someone would get to 9-under par, but the winning score turned out to be 8-under, which he called surprising. However, the result allowed him to reset his targets for the rest of the season.

“I’ve had an opportunity to win a couple times this year,” Woods said in his pre-tournament press conference at the WGC-Bridgestone.

"“I had a great chance at Valspar early in the year, and even a week ago I had a great shot at it. Yeah, my game’s gotten better and good enough where I feel like I can win again.”"

In recapping the last nine months, he noted that last December, he was approximately 1200th in the world rankings. As 2018 opened, Woods improved nearly every time he played.

“Within a year to get down to 50, I think is a pretty good accomplishment,” he added about what he had to do to qualify for the WGC-Bridgestone.

Now he believes he has a chance for a ninth victory at the storied Firestone Country Club course.

Tiger Woods: Firestone “one of my favorite golf courses”

He has good memories of winning in Akron. He’s won by hitting over the clubhouse. He’s won by playing from the wrong fairway. He’s won in the dark. He’s won in playoffs and with impressive leads.

"“I remember playing here before it was even the World Golf Championships, the World Series of Golf. So, it’s always been one of my favorite golf courses on the entire Tour, and it’s unfortunate that it is leaving,” he said. “It’s a very simple, straightforward golf course, which we don’t see very often anymore. This is away from the stadium golf that we seem to play a lot now on Tour, and I’m just excited to be here and be able to play.”"

Firestone is mostly tree-lined, with a preponderance of straight holes that run north and south. It’s greens are among the largest on the PGA Tour, averaging 7,619 square feet, while Pebble Beach’s, for example, are just 3,500 square feet. And, when it comes to his putting, Woods noted that he’s made many changes this season in order to improve his results on the greens.

“Since I’ve switched putters, I’ve started to make some putts. As we all know, when you make putts here and there, it changes everything,” he said.

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But that’s not the only equipment change.

“I’ve changed shafts, I don’t know how many times, throughout the year, because my swing has changed, my speed has changed, and I’ve had to change the settings on my driver, my 3-wood, my 5-wood.”

He also had to test his ability to hit out of thick rough, and he needed to generate Tour quality clubhead speed. So far, he’s been able to do what he needed to do to be competitive.

“There’s been so many things that have evolved this year that I’ve just had to try and wing it on the fly,” he added.

Now that he has adjusted his equipment and has some tournaments under his belt, he thinks 2019 will be even better.

When asked to describe his form, his one-word answer was “trending.” In other words, look out, PGA Tour players. Tiger Woods is not far from snagging his next victory.

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Power Rankings. dark. Next

A look at Firestone’s storied PGA TOUR history

Firestone Country Club, which hosts the WGC-Bridgestone this week, has held professional golf events since 1954, before there was an actual PGA Tour. The tournament was called The Rubber City Open because so many tire manufacturers were located in Akron, Ohio.

In the early days of The Rubber City Open, men’s professional golf events were run by the PGA of America. However, the PGA Tour was founded in 1968 for the touring professionals, and at the time, it was called the Tournament Players Division. Its first commissioner, Joe Dey, took office in 1969. Later the Tournament Players Division name was changed to PGA Tour.

In the 1950s, there were four tire companies in Akron or nearby, but today, Goodyear is the only one with a corporate headquarters in Akron. At one time, Goodrich, General Tire, Goodyear and Firestone were headquartered in and around Akron.

In 1988 Bridgestone acquired Firestone and they have a large plant in Akron. Of the original four, only Goodyear and Firestone have production facilities there. And of course, Akron is the main base of the Goodyear blimp.

Firestone Country Club was built by Harvey Firestone, the founder of the namesake company, for use by his employees. It has survived two world wars, and the ups and downs of the numerous business cycles since the early 1900s. Today it is owned by ClubCorp.

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