Tiger Woods Speaks on Difficulty of Pinehurst No. 2
PGA star Tiger Woods is going to be teeing it up at the U.S. Open on Thursday for the first time since 2020 at Winged Foot in New York. He missed the cut at that tournament, as 2019 was the last time he made the cut at a U.S. Open.
Tiger Woods is hoping that streak comes to an end this weekend at Pinehurst No. 2. However, achieving that task will be easier said than done given the conditions that the golfers will be facing.
The weather will certainly impact some players, as temperatures are projected to be in the high 80s and low 90s. That isn’t anything that will bother Woods, as the warm weather should actually benefit him, replicating what he deals with in Jupiter, Florida.
However, the course itself will present some challenges. You need to be dialed in around the greens, as videos have gone viral of just how fast they are. The undulations will leave poorly placed shots in brutal positions, sometimes running off the green altogether.
“I did a little bit of work on chipping and putting, but nothing can simulate what we have here this particular week, the amount of little shots and the knobs and run-offs, and either using wedges or long irons or woods around the greens or even putter,” Woods said.
“There’s so many different shots that you really can’t simulate unless you get on the property. That’s one of the reasons I came up here last Tuesday, to be able to try and do that. Quite a bit of work. The golf course has firmed up and gotten faster since then. Even this week, even with the rain we had the other night, the golf course is still faster.”
Last week, Tiger Woods played a practice round at Pinehurst No. 2, the first time he had been back in nearly 20 years. The last time he played Pinehurst No. 2 was in 2005 when he finished second. In 2014, the U.S. Open did return but Woods did not partake as he was recovering from back surgery.
Any time that Tiger Woods tees it up, it is exciting for fans. He isn’t the player that he used to be, but he still draws a huge crowd as people want to see him playing during golf’s biggest tournaments.