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TULSA, Okla. — Perhaps it was an indication of issues to return when Tiger Woods’ injured proper leg appeared to randomly buckle throughout Saturday’s warm-up on the PGA Championship as he made his means right into a follow space bunker at Southern Hills. Hours after signing his scorecard, and shortly after play ended for the day, Woods withdrew from the season’s second main.
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Regardless of saying earlier than the match that his leg was stronger than it was at Augusta, he appears to be in additional ache this week. On Saturday, he started stretching his injured leg and strolling with a pronounced limp on the second gap.
When requested if he’d play on Sunday, Woods replied: “Nicely, I’m sore. I do know that for a reality. We’ll do some work and see the way it goes.”
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Apparently it didn’t go nicely.
Woods shot a nine-over-par 79 within the third spherical, the worst rating of his profession at this main championship.
A day after entertaining the golf world with one other gritty battle to make the reduce, a hobbled Woods appeared to have little left within the tank on a unusually chilly day in Tulsa.
“I didn’t do something proper, I didn’t hit many good photographs,” Woods stated after his spherical. “Consequently, I ended up with a fairly excessive rating.”
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In every of the six earlier PGA Championship rounds Woods has performed at Southern Hills — the place he gained in 2007 — the temperature has reached at the least 31C. It was 12C when he teed off on Saturday.
What Woods has informed us throughout this newest comeback is that heat is best than chilly, flat is best than hilly, and to date he’s additionally proven us that Fridays are higher than Saturdays. His return to golf on the Masters in April noticed a Saturday 78 after an exhausting journey to make it to the weekend.
All eyes will probably be on the place Woods will make his subsequent begin. The U.S. Open is lower than a month away and is an apparent goal. Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Event is in two weeks and was a staple for Woods. It will be a helpful tune-up for Tiger if he hopes to do something greater than battle on Friday to make the reduce.
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It doubtless will all depend upon the golfer’s bodily state, which is one thing we may be saying for fairly a very long time.
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE
Skilled golfers are very a lot creatures of behavior, and thru three rounds of the PGA Championship it’s clear that Southern Hills has pushed them far out of their consolation zone. The change of temperature and wind path on Saturday gave gamers suits, however the golf course has been enjoying like a rock in a golfer’s shoe all week lengthy.
Few issues frustrate gamers greater than photographs they thought had been good, ending dangerous. For many weekend golfers, it’s to be anticipated — simply dangerous luck or the rub of the inexperienced — however for males who’ve spent their lives attempting to remove the variables of this most variable of video games, it drives them loopy.
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There was no scarcity of gamers this week hitting photographs that land on the inexperienced earlier than rolling onto one of many course’s many giant run-off areas.
“Greens round right here fall-off type of all over the place,” Adam Hadwin stated.
The greens characteristic slopes that, whereas usually refined, are seemingly countless and do an awesome job rejecting method photographs. Which means touchdown areas are a lot smaller than they give the impression of being on tv, and as soon as wind enters the equation — because it has this week — the margin for error turns into extraordinarily small at Southern Hills.
Even routine pitch photographs from across the inexperienced are wanting reasonably untidy, and after a short chat with Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet, who’s right here working with TSN, it doubtless comes all the way down to how troublesome it’s to place satisfactory spin on the ball when pitching or chipping into the grain on this very grainy Bermuda grass.
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The bunkers have acquired much more scorn from gamers. Life on the PGA Tour means comfortable, constant, superbly manicured sand. That’s not the case at Southern Hills the place the pebbly, coarse grains of sand have been giving gamers suits.
“I haven’t seen bunkers with that form of sand, gravelly sand, too usually currently,” stated Bernd Wiesberger.
Regardless of quite a few follow rounds, gamers have largely been unable to regulate.
“It’s actually troublesome to get spin, mainly inconceivable,” Thomas stated.
Not solely are bunkers really true hazards this week as a substitute of locations gamers purpose to keep away from the tough, the sand has even been affecting some putts.
“Numerous bigger pebbles,” Wiesberger stated. “You see a variety of them on the greens floor as nicely when the gamers attempt to swipe them off their traces.”
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Talking of the greens, the world’s high gamers like them working very quick as a result of that’s what they see week-to-week on tour. As soon as once more, not this week. Particularly not throughout Friday’s second spherical when the greens weren’t mown for worry heavy winds might transfer golf balls, which might not solely be a serious embarrassment however might have brought about a stoppage of play.
“They will’t get that quick anyway simply because they’re fairly slopey, however I don’t suppose these inexperienced surfaces are the smoothest to start with,” Brooks Koepka stated.
Mown or not mown, a serious championship is at all times extra enjoyable with a couple of gamers moaning.
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