World No. 1 Tiger Woods is looking to drive off with one Florida tournament success that has so far alluded him and that’s the Honda Classic.
Woods is making just his third start in the event at the Champion Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
He was T37th last year and finished T2nd a year earlier in 2012, closing with a final-round 62 to finish two strokes behind Rory McIlroy.
This week’s event is only Woods third PGA Tour start of the wraparound 2013-14 season.
Tieger Woods looking to win a first-ever Honda Classic. (Photo – www.tigerwoods.com)
In December, he lost in a playoff to fellow Masters champion Zach Johnson in the World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.
Woods first PGA Tour start of 2014 was his defence of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla where he crashed out of the third round cut with a score of 80.
Woods then competed in the 25th anniversary Dubai Desert Classic but accept for birding his closing three holes it was a rather disappointing display and in an event he had won twice before.
Since then, Tiger has taken time off to work on his game with swing coach Sean Foley and has made adjustments, notably working on a fuller shoulder turn and sharpening his short game and putting.
“I felt that was a bit off,” said Woods on his putting Wednesday after playing in the pro-am.
Asked to describe the state of his game, Tiger replied, “It feels good. I was pleasantly surprised how well I was hitting it today.”
Tiger will compete in three of the next four events. He has also committed to next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship at the Trump National Doral in Miami and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 20-23 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.
This week’s field is the strongest of the year and marks the first time the top three players on the Official World Golf Ranking — Woods, Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson — have played together. One of the draws is that the Masters Tournament, the first major championship of the year, is only six weeks away.
“Once we get to Florida, guys are getting pretty serious about their prep for Augusta,” said Woods.
As for the conditions at PGA National, the greens were slow and the fairways spotty Wednesday from recent rain. With wind in the forecast, Tiger expects tournament officials to keep greens on the slower side so they don’t become unputtable.
Tiger draws an early 7:35 a.m. ET start from the 10th tee Thursday with Keegan Bradley and Zach Johnson. The good news is that he lives close to the course.
“This is my new home, and I love it here,” he said. “It’s nice to sleep in your own bed. I’m going home to my own remote.”
* Thanks to www.tigerwoods.com
