Tiger Woods clenched his jaw when the ache hit.
He limped, often used a driver like a cane, and pushed his rebuilt proper leg over and thru the hills and swales of Southern Hills on Friday with a singular mission: to get to the weekend on the PGA Championship.
And he did it. Woods shot a second-round 1-under 69 that put him at 3-over par for the event, one shot contained in the minimize line. He was in peril of lacking the weekend earlier than rallying with two birdies over the ultimate six holes.
“You can’t win the tournament if you miss the cut. I’ve won tournaments — not major championships, but I’ve won tournaments on the cut number,” Woods mentioned after he gingerly the few steps as much as the stage for his post-round interview.
“There’s a reason why you fight hard and you’re able to give yourself a chance on the weekend.” Few take into account {that a} reasonable state of affairs the best way Woods has to struggle his physique to get via a spherical. A automobile crash 15 months left his proper leg so badly broken that medical doctors thought of amputation.
Woods returned to competitors final month on the Masters. He made the minimize there and gutted via the weekend at Augusta National in a wonderful return in entrance of adoring galleries. He did not play once more till returning to the PGA, a championship he has received 4 instances, most just lately in 2007 at Southern Hills.
The followers on the PGA Championship have pushed him alongside once more, even when he seemed depressing. He opened with a 4-over 74. He mentioned nearly every part made his leg harm that day earlier than he left the course for an evening of bodily remedy and ice baths.
He recovered properly sufficient to tee it up once more Friday, which by itself impressed enjoying companion Rory McIlroy.
“Just incredibly resilient and mentally tough,” mentioned McIlroy, who chatted with Woods typically throughout Friday’s spherical. “He’s feeling it, and he is feeling it on each swing. … Yeah, look, he is the last word professional. Looking at him yesterday, if that will have been me, I’d have been contemplating pulling out and simply going dwelling. But Tiger is completely different and he is proved he is completely different. It was only a monumental effort.” Woods by no means thought of leaving.
“Just the fact that I’m able to play golf again and play in our biggest championships,” the 15-time main champion mentioned. “I’m not going to be playing a lot of tournaments going forward. They’re going to be the biggest tournaments. I want to be able to play the major championships. I’ve always loved playing them.” Even if it takes a full-team effort to get him again on the course 4 days in a row.
“Fortunately enough, I’m able to somehow do it,” Woods mentioned. “I’ve had a great (physical therapy) staff that have put Humpty-Dumpty back together, and we’ll go out there tomorrow.” Woods shut down a query about whether or not his leg felt higher or worse than Thursday. By then, he was accomplished speaking about it.
There will likely be challenges over the following two days.
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On the steep slope off the No. 1 tee on Friday, Woods has used his driver like a cane to ease his method down the hill. The stairs off the No. 10 tee had been additionally sluggish going. A ball in a bunker can imply an ungainly stance and unsteady ft.
But there are occasions when he can clear his thoughts of the aches and pains.
A birdie at No. 5 appeared to straighten his gait on the following few holes till a bogey three holes later had him flirting with the minimize line once more. On the ninth, he was clenching his jaw earlier than hitting out of the tough into an uphill inexperienced.
Real hassle got here the par-3 eleventh when he missed the inexperienced properly to the left, then bashed his membership in opposition to a cart path in anger. A double bogey adopted and he was in peril of ending the week early.
Then got here the late rally down stretch. Woods lastly acquired the cushion he wanted with a birdie at No. 16.
Woods completed the Masters with consecutive rounds of 78. He left Southern Hills on Friday hoping for a greater end in Tulsa if his leg will enable it.
“Coming back here to a place that I’ve had success on, to play against the best players in the world, that’s what we all want to be able to do,” Woods mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
