Tiger Woods on Saturday on the 14th inexperienced at Riviera Nation Membership.

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Placing, putted, putts. 

Thrice, over his first reply and concerning the first 30 seconds in his press convention after Saturday’s Genesis Invitational third spherical, Tiger Woods stated a variation of 1 phrase. It was each a degree of emphasis and satisfaction. 

“Tiger, nice enjoying right now. Only a common evaluation earlier than we take some questions.” 

“Yeah, right now was higher,” he stated. “I felt like I made some good changes with my placing, and that was the factor that held me again yesterday. I’ve pushed it effectively the final three days. My iron play has been good. And the agency situations I like; that’s form of proper up my alley with iron play. Simply want I may have putted a bit bit higher yesterday. I made a number of changes right now and a number of the putts went in.”

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Let’s persist with the press convention theme for a second, and return to Friday, and the second spherical. Our phrase of the day was on repeat there, too, proper from the beginning. 

“Tiger, robust end. Just a few feedback on the day.” 

“Yeah, that didn’t — I didn’t putt effectively right now, I blocked numerous putts early, and that is most likely the best rating I may have shot right now. In all probability ought to have shot most likely 5 or 6 higher than this simply. Simply didn’t make the putts early and the center a part of the spherical, after I had these alternatives. They usually weren’t very arduous putts. I simply hit dangerous putts and clearly had a really dangerous end, too.”

When you’re protecting monitor at residence, that’s three ‘putts’ on Saturday, and 5 on Friday. How becoming. 

On the Genesis, on this newest Woods return, we knew this might be an space of concern. He hadn’t performed for the reason that Open Championship final July. He had performed simply 9 rounds final 12 months total in his return from a number of leg accidents. Contact would take time. 

There was hope Thursday at Riviera. He shot a two-under 69, ending birdie, birdie, birdie — and one-putt, one-putt, one-putt. However you know the way Friday went, and right here’s the underside line: In a spherical of 74, he ranked a hundred and fifth in Strokes Gained: Placing (-1.699) — a drop of 85 spots (!) from spherical one. Nothing was clicking.

After all, you already know he turned issues round. On Saturday, he birdied his opening gap, the tenth, on a 15-footer. On 14, he rolled in a 24-footer for birdie. On 5, an 11-footer. No three-putts. He shot a four-under 67. In his press convention, he stated Saturday was his greatest spherical since this comeback began, ultimately 12 months’s Masters. He ranked sixteenth in SG: Placing (1.029). 

That’s leap. However the repair was refined, and he alluded to it on Friday.

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“No, I simply blocked them; they had been simply dangerous putts.” he stated. “They weren’t very arduous, good reads. I introduced Joey [LaCava, his caddie] in on a few them, and I simply hit dangerous putts. So I may have simply obtained off to a very popular begin, and I didn’t, after which center a part of the spherical, I may have turned it round a bit bit and I didn’t.”

Then he did. Then he un-’blocked.’

On Saturday, a reporter requested him about it. 

“That adjustment you made in your placing, did you are feeling it, did Rob [McNamara, a Woods confidante] see one thing, did you take a look at it on the telecast, that block? What was it?”

“Nicely, I simply stated, hey, I’ve all the time been an individual who likes to hook my putts, so I simply tried to really feel like I went again to releasing the putter blade extra, extra proper hand, extra launch,” Woods stated. “I simply hate that blocky feeling, which I had yesterday, which I can’t stand. So I am going again to hooking my putts and it felt like my regular stroke, which was good.”

That’s a bit technical, however in non-15-time main winner discuss, he loosened his stroke up. Bear in mind the priority about creating really feel? That is that. 

And the putts — there’s that phrase once more: putts — began to fall. Within the press convention, a reporter requested Woods whether or not issues are beginning to “simply chill in.”

“Yeah, feel-wise, sure, I do,” he stated. “As I used to be saying earlier, I can hit golf balls, I can do all that stuff, I can chip and putt again residence and I can do all that stuff. However I haven’t walked and performed so much, in order that’s the problem. The ebb and stream of adrenaline, I haven’t had adrenaline in my system for some time, so getting the numbers proper, that’s taken a bit little bit of time. Joey and I’ve been in lockstep in making these changes.”

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Nick Piastowski
Patacon.org Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Patacon.org and Golf Journal. In his position, he’s liable for modifying, writing and creating tales throughout the golf house. And when he’s not writing about methods to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native might be enjoying the sport, hitting the ball left, proper and quick, and consuming a chilly beer to scrub away his rating. You may attain out to him about any of those subjects — his tales, his recreation or his beers — at [email protected]