After plunging to new depths at the PGA Championship with his first missed cut at the major, Tiger Woods faces the once unthinkable prospect of being ranked outside the world’s top 50 when he next competes.
His next scheduled event is the Nov. 10 to Nov. 13 Australian Open and, should he not play a tournament before then, the former world No. 1 would slide down to the high fifties in the rankings.
This would be a remarkable scenario for Woods, the greatest golfer of his generation and arguably of all time, who has already won 14 major titles in a glittering career.
However, the last two years have been a veritable nightmare for the American, on and off the course, and he was not expected to fare well at the PGA Championship having only recently returned to competition.
After making a red-hot start to the season’s final major with three birdies in his first five holes, world No. 30 Woods spectacularly unraveled on the way to an opening seven-over par 77.
That left him a staggering 14 strokes off the first-round lead and he followed up with a roller-coaster 73 on Friday to miss the cut after recording five double-bogeys in a tournament for the first time.
“I was in nearly 20 bunkers in two days and I had four or five water balls. So that’s not going to add up to a very good score,” a rueful Woods told reporters before heading home to Florida.
His early exit from Atlanta Athletic Club meant he failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s season-ending FedExCup playoffs and he clearly has plenty of work to do on his revamped swing before he returns to action, whether in Australia or before.
Woods does have plenty of options, ranging from teeing up in the PGA Tour’s Fall series, which generally attracts only the journeymen on the US circuit, or perhaps heading across to the late-season events on the European Tour.
Asked whether he might add a tournament or two to his schedule before the Australian Open in Sydney, Woods said: “I might. I know that I’m scheduled in November to go, but, as of right now, that’s the only commitment that I have.”
If the PGA Championship does represent his final PGA Tour appearance of the season, Woods will end this year’s campaign in the US with just two top-10s in eight starts.
His biggest problems have been injury and a lack of practice. He was on the sidelines for three months while recovering from the left knee ligaments and Achilles tendon he hurt during the Masters in April, when he impressively tied for fourth.
He missed two majors, the US Open and the British Open, and that unexpected hiatus was far from ideal as he continues working with coach Sean Foley through the fourth swing change of his career.
“This year has been frustrating because I was feeling somewhat healthy going into the Masters, put it together there and was leading the tournament with a few holes to go,” said Woods, who has not won a major since the 2008 US Open nor any tournament worldwide since 2009.
“Then I got hurt and I haven’t played since really. So it’s been frustrating from that standpoint, that I have not been able to -practice and work, and obviously compete,” he said.
While bitterly disappointed and frustrated by his erratic display at the Atlanta Athletic Club, Woods has been greatly encouraged by his improved health after recovering from four knee surgeries over the years.
“It’s a giant leap forward in the fact that I played two straight weeks healthy,” he said, referring also to last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational where he tied for 37th. “That’s great for our practice sessions coming up. We are going to be now able to work and get after it.”
Woods has been excited by how cleanly and powerfully he has struck the ball over the last two weeks, though the extra compression has posed problems with his distance control.
“The changes I’m making, I’m hitting the ball further and that’s something I have to adjust for,” he said. “The ball is now coming off faster and I’ve got to get used to that.”
Though Woods has been a shadow of his former self, while trying to rebuild his golf swing and private life following the breakup of his marriage, it is still far too early to write him off.
All too often in the past, he has proved his critics wrong, but his acid test will be the West Coast swing on the PGA Tour in January and February when he has traditionally made a fast start to the season while building up to the April Masters.
Should he fail to regain his customary standards then, it will be very difficult for him to present a plausible case for the defense, especially with his fitness no longer a cause for concern.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS