[ad_1]
(Reuters) – Tiger Woods’ bid for a record 83rd PGA Tour win will have to wait despite a solid round on Friday, after he finished 12 strokes behind the leader and tied for 66th at the midpoint. of the Zozo Championship.
The 15-time Major winner equaled Sam Snead’s record of 82 wins at Zozo in 2019 after claiming his fifth Masters title to cap off a remarkable redemption arc.
But the returning champion’s 66 second round wasn’t enough to make up for his horrible opening round, where he failed to capitalize on shortstop par-five.
Woods loaded a four over par 76 on Thursday, with four bogeys and a double bogey in the tournament, which has no cut and is played in California rather than Japan due to logistical problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yesterday was not very good and you have five par fives and you can basically get to each of them. Playing so many above par yesterday, I played them better today and consequently shot 66,” he said.
At 44, Woods has long been fortunate to break the stubborn Snead’s record as long as he can handle the chronic injuries and physical pain that have plagued his career for the past decade.
Snead won the last of his 82 titles in 1965, a decade before Woods was born.
Returning from the coronavirus-imposed hiatus on the PGA Tour, Woods has yet to rank in the top 10 in a tournament, recently missing the cut at the US Open in Mamaroneck.
He said that fighting the thick rough in New York put stress on his back, but said his health was improving.
“I’m moving a lot better,” he said.
“Having four weeks off was good, the training sessions have been good, so everything has changed.”
And with the rescheduled Masters tournament starting in Augusta on November 12, Woods has admitted that he will have to master even more variables to get back on top.
“This whole year has been different for all of us,” Woods said Wednesday. “And my run to Augusta is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; edited by Lincoln Feast.)
[ad_2]
