DUBLIN, Ohio – Alongside playing, Tiger Woods.
Silence.
No roars No applause. No “Come on Tiger!” coming from the gallery that would go row after row with the fans trying to catch a glimpse while golf’s most famous player stood at the tee box at No. 1.
Welcome back to the PGA Tour, Tiger, and welcome to how the tour events are playing out. While the rest of the tour players have had five tournaments to get used to fanless events amid the coronavirus pandemic, Woods did not have a first-hand experience until Thursday during the first round of the Memorial Tournament.
“There were still a lot of cars moving and a lot of media moving, but the energy was not the same without the fans,” Woods said after his first round of 1-under-71, which left him in a draw. by 18 and five shots behind the leader Tony Finau. “That was certainly remarkable, mostly different. But there were still a lot of moving parts with camera equipment.”
Woods resisted the urge to return to the tour earlier. He had been curious to know how events would happen after the three-month shutdown due to COVID-19. In early June, it was announced that the Memorial would be the first event to allow a limited number of spectators. But with an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States, the PGA Tour decided to scrap that idea. Soon after, the tour announced that there would be no fans at any of the remaining events of this season.
On Thursday, the biggest difference for Woods was that he didn’t have to make his way around a group of fans trying to get a picture of him or slap him as he walked to the next hole. Most of the people who followed Woods during the opening round at Muirfield Village were members of the media and tournament officials.
“Usually we have quarterbacks and ropes,” he said. “Like for example, on days 16 and 17, it was nice to walk from green number 16 going straight to the tee instead of walking. It certainly is different around here with some of the walks. But you can go from point A to point B very directly I’ve never felt this here. Usually I’m hanging around, so it was a good feeling. “
However, it was not completely silent for Woods. Fans stood in their backyards yelling the name of Woods whenever they could over the course of 18 holes. Some stood on benches to be able to see over the fences. A group of women on a balcony yelled, “We love you, Tiger,” after their unit at number 17 entered the bunker. Woods was undoubtedly the top attraction on a day when Bryson DeChambeau had two drives of at least 407 yards, one that exceeded 423 yards. There were groups of children, not even born when Woods dominated the tour, on their bikes on the sidewalk outside the grounds. One man said, “I’ve seen what I wanted, I’m going to come back in,” after a second shot from Woods in the last nine.
Woods, who uses the crowd to his advantage, has to adapt without having fans. There is no doubt that a roar would have been heard from a distance if spectators had attended when Woods rolled in a 9-foot birdie putt on the first hole. Instead, there were some cheers from a nearby yard, with Woods watching and saying “Thank you” as he made his way to the next hole. He recognized those fans who glanced at each other with a shake of the head or a brief hello throughout the round.
“I definitely had no problem with energy and not having fan reactions,” Woods said. “I still felt the same excitement, nervousness, and nervousness, and it was good. It was a good feeling. I haven’t felt this in a long time.”
Woods returned nine in his first round since February with a wedge shot that landed 4 inches from the hole for a birdie tap-in at No. 15, and a 14-foot putt birdie at No. 18. Those shots ended in Relative silence, apart from playing teammates Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka congratulating him.
“It certainly is a different feeling, a new reality, and we will have to get used to it,” Woods said.
.
