Sept. 10 – With Tiger Woods’ chances of defending his FedEx Cup title fading faster than a power slice, the world’s No. 1 golfer won’t have many more chances this season for on-the-job training with swing guru Sean Foley.
Woods could not break par for the second consecutive day on a Cog Hill Golf & Country Club track that he’s won on five times. After posting a one-over 72 Friday, Woods was tied for 40th place, way below the top-five finish he needs to advance to the Tour Championship. The top 30 golfers will move on to Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club in two weeks.
Barring a lights-out weekend and collapses by the 37 or so players he needs to leapfrog this weekend, Woods will fail to make it to the playoffs finale. He’s missed the event only twice in his career — once by choice and once after knee surgery.
Need more time. “I’ve been working hard on my full swing,” Woods told reporters following his Friday round. “It’ll come around. I just need more time, more practice.”
Missing the Tour Championship would give Woods plenty of time to practice with Foley. With a few golfers still on the course Friday evening, the PGA Tour projected Woods to finish 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings.
The old Tiger Woods would fire a third-round 64 and rocket up the leaderboard. Tiger Woods, vintage 2010, however, is unlikely to find the key to his swing in time to make a big enough move. Indeed, sounding more like an apprentice golfer than the world-beater of yore, Woods said he needed more than a mere tweak to get back on course.
“My game’s not where it should be,” conceded Woods. “I’m just trying to post good numbers. Trying to hit good shots, place the ball accordingly on the correct side of the fairways, the correct side of the greens, and go from there.”
Work in progress. Woods’ game has been a work in progress since he returned to the PGA Tour in April after his well-documented hiatus from competition. Week after week, tourney after tourney, he has discussed the status of his swing, always saying he was moving forward.
Except he seemed to have it in reverse Friday. After building some momentum at The Barclays and Boston’s Deutsche Bank Championship, Woods had hit just 13 of 28 fairways and 19 of 36 greens through two rounds at Cog Hill.
With Woods unlikely to play in any remaining events after the Tour Championship, looks like the golf world will have to wait’ll next year to see if Woods embraces Foley’s concepts as successfully as he did those of Butch Harmon and Hank Haney.
Been there, done that. After all, completely overhauling his swing is nothing new for Woods, who made significant changes under both former coaches.
“I’ve been through this process before,” Woods said. “I’ve just got to be patient”
Of course, during those adjustments, the only question about Woods was how many tourneys he would win after he settled into his new swing. Today, the questions are not when, but if, the older, emotionally burdened Woods will win again, and is Sean Foley the answer?
Nasty buggers. A virus that Matt Kuchar picked up from his kids took its toll on the 18-hole leader’s third round. Kuchar, who was sweating, coughing, and sitting between shots Friday, carded four bogeys in his first six holes.
The FedEx Cup points leader and avowed Boston Red Sox fan got the shots back with birdies at nine, 12, 13, 15, and 16. He came back to earth with a bogey at 17, but finished his round with a 72 and a share of the lead with Charlie Wi at 6-under for the tourney.
“One of the worst-feeling days I’ve had out here,” a hoarse Kuchar told Golf Channel. “It was a struggle but I learned young never to quit.”
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out at the Boston Golf Examiner and National Golf Examiner websites.)
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