After five knee surgeries, a microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve in his back, two stress fractures in his tibia, a bulging disc in his neck, two strained Achilles and two cracked and chipped teeth apparently caused by the Tasmanian Devil of cameramen in the mountains of Italy, most have simply assumed that Tiger Woods’ deteriorating golf game has been the result of his deteriorating body.
But even now, with a rested and healed body, it’s clear there are other issues.
Woods played his first PGA Tour event in over five months since missing the cut at the PGA Championship and walking off the course in Valhalla with a sore back. He wasn’t good. He had a couple of nice moments on the back nine (an eagle and a birdie) of the Phoenix Open, but it wasn’t nearly enough to suggest he’ll miss the Super Bowl on Sunday.
He hit only four of 14 fairways. He showed little to no confidence in his short game. He was 4 over par through four holes and 5 over through nine, with three bogeys and a double-bogey.
The good news: He made the turn with a full set of teeth.
There probably was a point when young playing partners Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed wondered, “Is this old guy going to slow us down all day?”
Woods wasn’t the daring 23-year-old who hit the hole-in-one here on No. 16 in 1997, or the young star who two years later solicited the help have five friends to move a boulder in front of his ball on the 13th after he asked officials whether the rock qualified as a “loose impediment.”
This was a 39-year-old grinding just to look competitive and look like some semblance of a threat to win a major again.
He scrambled late to finish the day at 2-over 73, nine shots back of leader Ryan Palmer. Afterward, he appeared drained and admitted he struggled to stay committed to a new swing.
“This is only my second tournament in six months,” said Woods, who finished tied for last (18th) in his own invitational in December. “I just have to fight through it, make adjustments on the fly. It’s just a frustrating thing where I need to get through competitive rounds.”
He said it took him a while “mentally to get into a rhythm.”
“Physically, I’m fine. Mentally I’m a little bit tired of the grind from trying to piece together a round when I was 5 over.”
On Tuesday, he spoke about how well he’s driving the ball. His chipping was coming back, he said, after hitting “thousands upon thousands upon thousands of chips.”
Then Thursday, he looked like the old man who had told one too many fish stories.
His ball found trees and cacti and gravel and concrete and rough. On the front nine, he showed an affinity for standing near back porches at the TPC Scottsdale, several yards to the right of fairways.
There is scar tissue between Woods’ ears, seemingly little confidence and the absence of an edge that may or may not be found before the Masters.
His opening tee shot sailed to the far right of the fairway and rested on gravel, near a mesquite tree. A fan yelled, “Long year.” He might have meant that as a comforting statement, but the next several holes made it seem more like a dour forecast.
He bogeyed No. 1 after that tee shot and a poor chip (more like a roll) with his third shot and a two-putt. He bogeyed No. 2 after another horrendous chip that completely missed the green. He saved par on the par-5 third hole after his tee shot sailed to the right the fairway, the gallery, a walkway and down a dirt hill into a gully. But he double-bogeyed No. 4 after another chip short of the green and a two-putt.
Woods’ ninth tee shot went into bunker. (No special dispensation for landing in sand in the desert.) Another bogey on that hole and the 11th.
There was a glimmer of the old Tiger after he hit a 226-foot 5-iron to within seven inches of the 13th hole for an eagle. He also nearly eagled the 17th, but left a 20-foot putt just short. But for most of the day, he wasn’t the old Tiger Woods. He was an old Tiger Woods.
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