Tiger Woods has been steadily improving in this remarkable comeback season. Can he finally get back in the winner’s circle at the PGA Championship at Bellerive?
Tiger Woods has done almost everything he could have possibly expected to do in his return from injury in 2018. Before the Hero World Challenge in December, he was ranked 1199th in the world. Today, he’s No. 51. He’s made just 13 starts worldwide, but he’s missed only two cuts, finishing inside the top 10 four times. Woods even has a decent chance to make the Tour Championship for the first time since 2013.
The only thing he hasn’t done yet? Win.
This week, at Bellerive, Woods has a chance to knock out two birds with one stone, as he’ll tee it up in the final major of the year, with his sights set on No. 15.
Tiger Woods came close to his 15th major title at the Open Championship at Carnoustie, but it wasn’t meant to be. Still, most of us – yours truly included – sat and watched, captivated by the possibility of witnessing a moment thought to be impossible just a year or two ago.
The 42-year-old ran out of gas down the stretch, but it was an electrifying moment. Now, coming off of what can only be described as a disappointing outing at the final WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, does he have what it takes to make one more run this year?
While he’s won five of the 99 previous editions of the PGA Championship, Woods is getting to know Bellerive the same way the rest of the field is. The last TOUR event played here was the 2008 BMW Championship. Woods, of course, would have easily qualified for that event, but for a serious leg injury that he played through to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Before that, it was the 1992 PGA, five years before his debut in that event. No veteran’s advantage to be found there.
Tiger Woods also knows he’s battling both Father Time and Mother Nature this week. With temperatures in St. Louis expected to rise into the 90s this weekend, managing his body between rounds will be almost as important as anything he does on the course.
Woods took Monday off as he traveled from Firestone to Bellerive, and he got just five holes of practice in on Tuesday before storms halted play. What came of all that down time?
Tiger took an avenue we normally think of as being reserved for football and basketball players: he hit the cold tub.
"“I needed that day off. Yesterday I spent a few times in the ice bath just trying to get some inflammation down and just trying to get ready for the rest of the week,” Woods told reporters at Bellerive. “And a lot of stretching. Did a leg lift yesterday as well and was ready to go for today.”"
I firmly believe Tiger Woods can – and will – win on the PGA TOUR again. But in a major championship, against the best the world has to offer, he needs to be flawless.
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He not only needs to capture the magic of a decade (or at least five years) ago, but he needs to hold onto it for not one, not two, but all four days. He needs to put himself in position as the hunted, not the hunter. That is where he shines, but can that be this week?
His tee-to-green game isn’t quite as good as it was in 2013, nor is his putting. But his short game (ninth on TOUR in strokes-gained around the green), is showing flashes of the magic that made him an unbeatable force. Winning a major without being 100 percent is a tall task for anybody, but Woods is one of the game’s all-time mental talents, as well.
The question today is no longer talent – it’s clear that Woods still has enough of that to win anywhere in the world. But can it come together when it matters the most, when everyone else in the world aims to be on top of their game, as well?
Woods is clearly at peace with his place in golf history if he never wins again, but on a Sunday afternoon at a major, can he summon that killer instinct again?
The challenge will be one of the biggest that Tiger Woods has faced not just this season, but his entire career. If he can stare down today’s best one more time, then perhaps his story isn’t over just yet.
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