TROON, Scotland — Tiger Woods seems nicely on his strategy to lacking his third consecutive minimize in a serious championship.
Woods, 48, struggled by way of an 8-over-par 79 in Thursday’s British Open first spherical at Royal Troon, the location of his first Open as an expert in 1997.
Woods, who’s performed in solely 5 PGA Tour occasions this 12 months, is seemingly completed with event play after this week till December, when he’s anticipated to play the Hero World Problem, which he hosts within the Bahamas.
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He withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in February with an sickness throughout his second spherical. He completed final among the many 60 gamers who made the minimize on the Masters.
And he missed the minimize within the PGA Championship on the U.S. Open.
And now, it’ll take a really low spherical in Friday’s second spherical to maintain Woods in Scotland this weekend.
Woods received off a stable begin with a birdie on No. 3 to get to 1-under par. Then issues went dangerous en path to capturing 40 on the entrance 9. He had a bogey on No.4, a double bogey on No.5 and bogeys on Nos. 7 and eight.
Then Woods pumped his tee shot into the railroad tracks, out of bounds, off the tee on No. 11 and took double bogey, which was adopted by one other bogey on 12 to fall to 7-over.
He birdied 13 to climb again to 6-over, however closed with bogeys on the seventeenth and 18th, the place he shoved a seven-foot par putt to the proper of the cup.
“I didn’t do an entire lot of issues proper at present,’’ Woods stated after his spherical. “I made that (birdie) putt on the third gap, after which I feel I had three 3-putts at present. I didn’t hit my irons very shut, and I didn’t give myself an entire lot of appears.
“I must shoot one thing within the mid-60s tomorrow to get one thing happening the weekend.’’
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Requested if he’d ready the place he can play extra golf so he’s sharper within the few tournaments he does play, Woods stated, “Yeah, I’m bodily feeling so much higher than I did at the start of the 12 months. On the finish of final 12 months, it was powerful, and I haven’t performed an entire lot.
“Because the 12 months has gone on, I’ve gotten higher. I simply want I might have performed a little bit bit extra, however I’ve been saving it for the majors simply in case I do one thing fairly main after which take myself out of it. Hopefully, subsequent 12 months might be a little bit bit higher than this 12 months.’’