Tiger Woods upbeat ahead of return to action at Quail Hollow
Wednesday 2 May 2018 19:34, UK
Tiger Woods is looking forward to getting back to competition at this week's Wells Fargo Championship after enjoying time away from golf following the Masters.
Woods played four tournaments in five weeks building up to the first major of the year and contended at both the Valspar Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational during his impressive comeback from spinal fusion surgery.
But although his driving improved at Augusta National, his iron play let him down as he settled for a tie for 32nd place thanks to a final-round 69.
The 42-year-old revealed he did not touch a club for 10 days after the Masters, but he has been working hard on his game and fitness since and he is hoping new irons in his bag at Quail Hollow will lead to improvements in his long game.
"I threw my clubs in the closet for 10 days after the Masters, got away from the game, didn't touch a club and didn't make a golf swing," said Woods. "I started to lift a little bit, but I just tried to make sure I kept flexible. But then I started grinding to get my muscle strength back and, eventually, my speed.
"At Augusta, I just didn't hit my irons very well. I drove it great over the weekend, but when I did hit a green I hit it to the wrong spot. I had too many defensive putts almost all four days. Even on Sunday, I shot three under par but I was still in some tough spots. I needed to be more precise, and I wasn't.
"I'll continue to work on it and get sharp, and hopefully this will be a good week. I hit my irons pretty good in Florida, although I didn't drive it as good as I would have liked. But I've switched shafts and now I'm driving it well, so it's ironic that I wasn't hitting my irons good."
Woods insisted the biggest challenge at Quail Hollow will be hitting and holding the new greens, and he is aware of the need to get the ball in play from the tee and avoid the punishing rough.
"You've got to get the ball in the fairway here, because you need to have spin coming into these greens," he added. "These greens are tough to hit from the fairway, let alone from the rough, so it's imperative to get the ball in play.
"This golf course is much harder than it used to be, that's for sure. It's longer, but it's a lot more difficult. The greens aren't quite as fast as I remember, but they are also more difficult.
"Some of these holes have become a lot more stout, the bunkers seem to be more in play and the greens are new and a lot more springy."
Woods will play the first two rounds alongside Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, who held off late charges from Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth to win his first major title at the Masters last month.
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"Patrick is fiery, and very committed to being the best player he can be," Woods said. "He puts in way more time working on his game than people might think. He spends hours and hours putting, chipping and just working hard.
"You've got to hand it to him, and the way he has pieced together his clubs, that takes a lot of time and practice to be able to do that. And the amount of confidence he displays when he plays, it's refreshing and it's fun to watch."
