Woods admitted, though, that not all of his time was spent pondering golf.
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Tiger Woods smiles as he answers a question during a news conference prior to the start of the Quicken Loans National golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., Tuesday, July 28, 2015.
Its a lot bigger golf course than I remember in 05, Woods said. Just five of the worlds top 50 are playing, including defending champion Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler.
“Unfortunately, I can’t get an invite there unless I win”, he said.
Finally, there was just about enough encouragement in the way Charles Howell III finished the aforementioned Barbasol to make him a bet at 125/1.
Cink played both Presidents Cups at this course and while his record in 2005 was mixed, he won four points from a possible four at the turn of the century including a Sunday singles victory over Greg Norman.
Woods is coming off a disastrous British Open performance at St. Andrews; in what has been a disappointing 2015 season thus far.
Woods has been through swing changes before, with Butch Harmon and again with Hank Haney and Sean Foley.
Other golfers have found the slump puzzling, too. “This year I’m still recovering and still trying to make a big major swing change”, he said on Tuesday at the Quicken Loans National. “I know he’s working on it, grinding on it. I played with him at Augusta this year; you could tell he really wanted to make the putts and hit the good shots”.
“It looks like he’s got the drive to get things going”, Walker said. “I hope he does”. With the steamy temperatures expected in Gainesville, Va., this week, Woods’s ball flight concerns might be assuaged, as he said “the ball is flying forever”.
Previous renewals have been shared between Congressional (2007-2009, 2012-2014) and Aronimink (2010-2011), but the event now switches to Virginia’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and marks the PGA Tour’s first visit to the state since the 2002 Michelob Championship.
This week’s Quicken Loans National could be his second-to-last start before the new PGA Tour season begins in the fall. “I still got to play all 18 holes like any other time”.
“Last year I was struggling through recovery from a [back] surgery”. How many tournaments have you been healthy at?
He acknowledged his struggles have been unpleasant, but he maintains that he’s not far from correcting them.
“Sometimes I have to get a little bit worse before I can make giant strides forward”.
“I don’t think I’ll ever see anyone else who’s won 14 majors in my lifetime so I’m very excited”, said Eric Turner of Upper Marlboro, MD.
“It’s frustrating not being able to win golf tournaments, not really being there in contention very often… but I know how close it feels and I know I just need a couple of shots here and there and it turns the tide”, said Woods. He’s not the most consistent guy in the field, but he has the highest ceiling on an unknown course that commands an aggressive approach game. Not Walker. “My wife had a horse show here about a month and a half ago”, he said.
He’ll need to if wants to continue playing this season.
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“I want to spend as much time as I can with my kids”.
