Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy – two of the 25 best golfers of all time – played side by side in the third round of The Northern Trust on Saturday and shot a combined 5 over just one day after two unusual rounds (59 , 60) shot at TPC Boston.
Following that 59 by Scottie Scheffler and 60 by 36-hole leader Dustin Johnson in the first 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs event, some thought we might see something equally special on Moving Day of a pair winning a combined 100 PGA Tour .
Hawar, we got almost exactly the opposite.
It started early when McIlroy scored the second hole third; he third then the sixth. He hit a ball backwards into the water (yes, you read that right) and needed a machete instead of his sandbox for much of the first nine at hairy TPC Boston. He was last won in strokes around the green in Round 3, shot 74 and is now even par for the week. It was even uglier than last.
Woods’ struggle was more subtle, but no less problematic. He made five bogeys, and although he did not have the big numbers like McIlroy, he could not compensate those bogeys with a little low. He shot 2-over 73 and fell to 1-under on the week, 14-back from Johnson before the afternoon tea time hit the leader.
As has been the case most of the second half of his 2020, Tiger’s problems were mostly round and on the greens, and specifically with his putter. He lost about three strokes to the field with his Scotty Cameron and will likely finish last in the category on the day. The irons were also not particularly sharp this week – unusual for Woods, perhaps the best iron player of all time – and he puts himself in spots that are hard to escape.
Take for example the par-4 14th hole. From the center of the fairway, Woods flew his approach over the back of the green and to the left, 48 feet from the hole. It sat next to some cables and just in front of some Rory heath, and Tiger broke the chip. It may have been a bad lie or a bad swing, but the point is that even small misses (48 feet not so bad) can make your short game look worse than it actually is depending on exactly where these misses are.
We may get another Woods-McIlroy pairing on Sunday, even earlier than their 8:30 a.m. ET tea time on Saturday. Again, not what was expected on Moving Day, but possibly a reality for two consecutive days.
There is an intriguing pessimism for some of these rounds. With no fans present, not much motivation for both and a long road of playoffs ahead, the golf can be amazing, and it often did on Saturday as Tiger and Rory grind through the combined 147 strokes (just 28 backs from Scheffler and DJs combined 119 on Friday).
At the end of their round together, McIlroy Woods offered a semi-ironic hat tip, such as saying, “I know how good we are, and I know how bad we have played.”
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This year has gone up in almost every way. One big championship, three months no golf and no fans at the biggest events. Sunday was just one more example of the 2020 range. That the two most accomplished players left in the field would go out and run home to rounds over par on a course where the average score this week is in the 60s. , was just one more example of that.
