For the second straight day at the 2020 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods could not buy a putt. For the second straight day at the 2020 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods shot a 2-over 72, and Saturday 72 was almost identical to Friday 72.
Woods, for the second straight day, made no birdies on the front nine of the course and went out in 1-over 36 in his third round. He then missed three of his first four on the back nine and crashed at an earlier-than-expected tee time on Sunday morning before recovering with two touchdowns in his last three holes and a 3-3-3 finish that him the 72 net .. It was not a great score, but on a day that the field average will probably regulate more than 71, it was not terrible either.
Tiger hit beautifully on his Saturday, marked by a 209-yard shot in the final hole to 5 feet, which he made for bird. The problem was again mostly related to his putter. He made 28 foot putts through his first 13 holes before finally making a few longs for par at the end. The last two days he has made four putts over 8 feet.
“I did nothing early,” Woods said. “I missed a few balls on the wrong side [of the fairway], and the greens become a little crusty and firm. Those were some bad shots that put me in some bad corners. Just like [Friday], I did not make putts to gain momentum, to start the round. I fell behind and had to fight back. “
It felt at times that if Lake Merced served as the hole, Woods also could not have found the bottom of it.
Tiger’s fight has been impressive. On Friday, he fought to make the cut. Saturday he fought to place a score. On both days – with major no. 16 well out of sight – he could move on and move on to the next one. That, of course, is not how he is wired, and it’s part of the matrix of skill that makes him one of the best (if not de best) of all time.
The putter, however, becomes a problem. Woods is using a new (longer) Scotty Cameron stick this week (apparently to help his back when it comes to practice time), and it’s about how old Scotty Cameron went on the Memorial Tournament three weeks ago.
Tiger is one of the great putters of all time, so I’m not sure there are any long-term concerns. But in the short term, the trajectory is not encouraging. Here’s a look at Woods’ two-year rolling average when it comes to stripe won putts.
Data wave
Now Woods – currently outside the top 50 on the Leaderboard – will try to make a mini-run on Sunday as the rest of the season unfolds for him. This PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, a track where he has never been beaten, is not the last thing on his plate this year. In fact, it is one of the first major since the PGA Tour restarted in early June. Woods still has the FedEx Cup Playoffs on deck as well as two more majors in the U.S. Open and Masters.
It’s hard to project the state in which his game will then be in, but just as was true at the Memorial, his iron play remains strong. Watching Woods flee the San Francisco whipping wind was a delight Saturday morning. It is his first shot and last shot on any particular hole that needs more attention. Woods does not bring himself to large places of the tea and makes no consequences when he reaches the green.
Maybe he helps something good on Sunday morning in his last big championship round of the season and takes it with him for the rest of the year. If he does not, then Sunday’s round will be a lot like the last two. A long slog to an inevitable over-par ending that falls nothing short and this 36-hole drought sometimes kills you whenever it ever will.
