Tiger feels good after preparing for Deutsche Bank
After a three-day layoff to rest his sore back, Tiger Woods returned to the golf course Thursday and played 18 holes in the pro-am in preparation for the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., site of the PGA TOUR’s second FedExCup playoff.
Tiger, who tied for second last Sunday at The Barclays and is the FedExCup points leader, said he had only planned to play nine holes, then chip and putt with his four amateur partners, who included New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. But even in the cool conditions, he felt no ill effects from the back spasms that plagued him last week.
“I started feeling better yesterday,” Tiger said afterward. “I had a good warm-up and no issues. I was just going to play nine and shut it down, but it felt good. It was a pleasant surprise to go out there and not play with any discomfort today.”
Woods used drivers on many of the holes.
“It was soft, drizzly, cold — cold for a Florida kid,” Tiger said. “So it required a bunch of drivers. And I had no problems hitting them, and it felt good to have that feeling again, considering the last time I swung a club it wasn’t that way.”
Tiger fell to his knees and grimaced in pain after hooking his second shot with a 3-wood into the hazard at the par-5 13th hole. He has received treatment two or three times daily since The Barclays and said he is ready to compete at TPC Boston.
Tiger won the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2006, tied for runner-up in 2007 and has finished in the top 10 five times. He’ll play the first two rounds with Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson, who rank second and third, respectively, in the World Golf Ranking and FedExCup points list.
“It’s exciting to have it one, two, three in the world,” Woods said of the pairing. “It also goes to show you that these are the three hottest players in the world. And that’s one of the reasons why they have gathered the most points.”
This year, the Tiger Woods Foundation will run the tournament, with proceeds benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation’s college-access programs including the Earl Woods Scholarship Program and Tiger Woods Learning Centers, as well as local New England charities.
“It’s incredible for us as a staff,” Tiger said. “It’s also an opportunity to help kids change their lives.”
Woods is also excited about the start of college football season. Stanford, his alma mater, is coming off three straight BCS appearances and is highly ranked again.
“We’re either one or four, somewhere in there,” he said of the polls. “But that’s all preseason stuff. You’ve got to go out there and earn it.”
What are Tiger’s expectations?
“Win every game,” he laughed.
Tiger tees off Friday at 8:40 a.m. ET on the 10th tee. The tournament concludes Monday.
