Tiger can’t wait to get swinging

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2011 (5408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AKRON, Ohio — Tiger Woods was on the practice range just as the sun began to rise Tuesday over Firestone, his first time on a PGA Tour golf course in nearly three months.

Even as the season heads toward a conclusion, Woods can’t wait to get started.

“I’m excited to compete, to play,” Woods said. “And hopefully, to win the tournament.”

That part about Woods hasn’t changed.

It’s everything else in the world of golf he once ruled that is so much different. Woods shows up at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at No. 28, his lowest world ranking since the start of his first full season on the PGA Tour. He has a new caddie — at least temporarily — in Bryon Bell, a childhood friend who now heads up a design business that is not getting much work these days with a downturn in the industry.

He no longer is the dominant force in golf, having gone 20 months since his last win at the Australian Masters.

For Woods, the biggest change is how he feels about his health.

“The great thing is I don’t feel a thing,” Woods said. “It feels solid. It feels stable. No pain.

“That’s one of the reasons why I took as long as I did to come back, is that I want to get to this point where I can go ahead and start playing golf again like this. It’s been a very long time and it feels good to go out there today and hit balls like this, go practise and feel nothing and walk around and pretty much do anything I want on the golf course.”

Asked how long it has been since he felt so good physically, Woods replied, “Years.”

It almost seems that long ago since he was last in action. Woods, who was No. 1 in the world at the Bridgestone Invitational a year ago, has not played since leaving the course after nine holes May 12 at The Players Championship with recurring injuries to his left knee and Achilles tendon.

He said he injured them during the third round of the Masters while hitting a shot an awkward stance in the pine straw on the 17th hole. Woods said if he had sat out the rest of May, he would have been fine the rest of the year, a lesson he learned this time around. Woods wasn’t about to return until he was 100 per cent healthy, and he is convinced of that now.

He said he started hitting balls a couple of weeks ago and he got the itch to start playing soon after. Woods said he thought about playing The Greenbrier Classic last week, but decided to wait a little more.

What gets him excited?

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“Trying to beat these boys,” Woods said. “That’s fun. Getting out there and trying to win golf tournaments, being there with a chance to win, whether you win or fail.

“Just being there is just a rush, and it’s just so much fun. Trying to pull off the shots that you’ve done in practice when it matters the most, see what you’ve got. That’s fun.”

Because he has missed so much golf — and didn’t play all that great early in the year — Woods has plunged to No. 135 in the FedEx Cup standings. He needs to crack the top 125 after this World Golf Championship and the PGA Championship to qualify for the playoffs. He could take care of that with a top-10 finish at Firestone, where only once in his career — last year — has he finished lower than fifth.

— The Associated Press