Masters: Tiger Woods eyes PGA Championship, majors after “good week”

The scorecard definitely didn’t present many positives, particularly his closing 36 holes. However Tiger Woods referred to as his twenty sixth look at The Masters a “good week,” regardless of ending in solo sixtieth at 16-over par.

He set an Augusta Nationwide file by making a twenty fourth consecutive reduce, and he accomplished 72 holes in a significant championship for the primary time in two years. Flashes of brilliance emerged at instances, however so did indicators of his age and lingering ache.

Regardless, Woods is waiting for the following main in mid-Might: the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Membership in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I simply [need to] maintain lifting, maintain the motor going, maintain the physique transferring, maintain getting stronger, and maintain progressing,” Woods stated on what he has to do to organize for Valhalla.

“Hopefully, the observe classes will maintain getting longer.”

Photograph by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR through Getty Pictures

Woods received the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla in an epic playoff over Bob Might. Then, in 2014, the final time this course hosted the PGA, Woods missed the reduce.

“I’m going to do my homework going ahead at Valhalla, Pinehurst and Troon, however that’s the sport plan,” Woods added.

“I heard there are some modifications on the subsequent couple of websites. So I’ve to rise up there early and verify them out.”

A month after the world’s finest gamers descend upon Kentucky, the U.S. Open will happen at Pinehurst No. 2 in mid-June. The North Carolina course additionally hosted the nationwide championship in 1999, 2005, and 2014.

Woods didn’t compete within the 2014 U.S. Open, however in 1999 and 2005, he tied for third and completed solo second, respectively.

Then, The Open Championship returns to Royal Troon in Scotland in July. Woods hopes to play there too, which might correlate together with his hypothetical plan that he laid out on the Hero World Problem in December.

At that time, Woods stated he hoped to play “as soon as monthly.” Now that the majors align accordingly, and now that he has accomplished 72 holes on one of many hardest terrains in all of golf, this appears increasingly more like a chance.

As for his look at this yr’s Masters, Woods stated that the gale-force winds grew to become the most important problem this week, not his illnesses.

Photograph by David Cannon/Getty Pictures

“The wind and what it was doing out right here to the golf photographs and the balls and placing, how troublesome the course was taking part in, [that was the biggest challenge],” Woods stated.

“It doesn’t take a lot to get out of place right here. Sadly, I bought out of place loads [on Saturday] and a few instances [on Sunday].”

Woods carded the worst spherical of his Masters profession on Saturday, a 10-over 82.

Then, for Sunday’s closing spherical, Woods completed with a 5-over 77, which included him taking the ‘worst journey in golf’ on the fifth gap. He hit his tee shot into the timber, couldn’t take reduction, and subsequently needed to re-tee. That led to a triple bogey, serving as an ideal instance of him being out of place.

Nonetheless, Woods remained optimistic following the spherical.

“It was a great week throughout,” Woods stated.

“I feel that coming in right here, not having performed a full event in a really very long time, it was a great battle on Thursday and Friday. Sadly, [Saturday] didn’t fairly end up the way in which I wished it to. Then right this moment, the way in which that Tom [Kim] is taking part in, I assumed I had that in my system. Sadly, I didn’t produce it.”

Kim shot a 6-under 66, one of many lowest rounds of the week.

However now Woods—and {the golfing} world—know that he can full 72 holes. The query now turns into, does he nonetheless have “yet one more” in him?

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.