We're About To Find Out If Tiger Is Taking His Scheduling Cues From Hogan

In the years following the car crash, Ben Hogan played a limited schedule, most notably in 1953 when he entered just six official events in his three-major-win season. Tiger Woods has played three tour events this year and with the Arnold Palmer Invitational his likely next and last start before the Masters, many feel he needs to play more.

As the entry deadline looms, Bob Harig at ESPN.com makes the case for Woods to add the Valspar in Tampa next week.  

David Duval is also in that camp.

“I think it’s imperative that he should go play Valspar, (with the assumption that he’ll) more than likely play Bay Hill,” Duval said. “But I think he’ll play Valspar. It’s a good place to work on all parts of your game. And you don’t have to drive it a ton there. You’ve got to deal with swirling winds, elevation changes. So I think it would be a very good thing for him to go play Valspar. It looks like it’s about reps and about exposure, putting yourself under the gun and seeing how you perform and how your golf swing holds up. A couple more opportunities to do that would be very beneficial.”

Looking at the stats analyzed by Alex Myers now that Woods is officially eligible for PGA Tour rankings, he's clearly rusty, as evidenced by his par-5 play.

Woods ranks a dismal 208th in par-5 scoring, a stat he used to dominate, with a 4.87 average. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads that category at 4.33, meaning that if a course has four par 5s, he's picking up two shots per round on Woods on just those holes. Woods' inability to take advantage of these longer holes has kept him to making only 3.6 birdies per round, which ranks 97th, and he has yet to make an eagle.

"Tiger Woods casting a shadow larger than ever"

The Honda Classic overnights have been finalized and the ratings were even higher, as The Forecaddie notes, with Golf Channel also scoring huge audience sizes for lead-in audiences compared to non-Tiger tour events. There were also some big wins for the golf against stiff competition. 

The early season boost delivered by Woods has prompted AP's Doug Ferguson to suggest, for now anyway, Tiger is actually bigger than ever.

Golf is in a different place than when Woods picked up his 79th victory on the PGA Tour in August 2013, his most recent victory. Thomas had just turned pro. Jordan Spieth had just earned a full PGA Tour card. Jon Rahm was going into his sophomore year at Arizona State. Since then, five players have taken turns at No. 1 in the world.

During his longest stretch out of golf with his bad back, the refrain was that golf needed Tiger Woods. When he was on the verge of returning at the end of 2016, the talk was that golf was in a good spot and Woods could only make it that much better.

For the first few tournaments of his return, it has become Woods and everyone else.

Ratings: Honda Up 38% Against Tough Competition

CBS drew a 2.9 overnight rating for the 3:15-6 pm ET block of Sunday’s 2018 Honda Classic, that’s up 38% over Rickie Fowler’s 2017 win on NBC according to SBD.  The Tiger effect played an incredible role given the competition in that window that included NASCAR (3.1), Winter Olympics (2.2) and NBA (Spurs-Cavs) on ABC (2.3). 

For those wondering about a strong lead-in from Michigan State-Wisconsin running long, the Big-10 matchup drew a 1.4 in its 1-3:15 pm ET window. 

Saturday’s Honda Classic third round drew a 1.8 on CBS, with a .8 lead-in audience from Louisville-Virginia Tech. 

Video: Tiger Hits A Birdie

We can enjoy this one because (A) for once the phrase "hit a birdie" is actually accurate, and (B) the goose is fine, with maybe just a brief ego bruise (but he or she doesn't know that she made all of the national highlight reels), (C) Tiger made birdie.

A Tiger Woods drive at the 2018 Honda Classic striking an Egyptian goose.

WATCH a Tiger Woods tee shot at Honda interfere with a goose: https://t.co/4ZAwwOTRh8 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/l12zoo4UiP

— Golfweek (@golfweek) February 25, 2018

Patton Kizzire On First Tee Shot In Front Of Tiger: Didn't Feel I Was Holding The Club

You have to love the honesty and respect Patton Kizzire (74-78) has for his elders and in particular, Tiger Woods.

From Bob Harig's ESPN.com account at the Honda where Woods fired a second round 71.

Kizzire, 31, is the only player who has won twice this season, but of course nothing could quite prepare him for what he faced the past two days at PGA National.

For the first time in his career, he was grouped with Tiger Woods.

"Extremely nervous," Kizzire said of his opening tee shot Thursday morning at the Honda Classic. "I didn't feel like I was actually holding the club. It was a rough start. Any time I'm uncomfortable, I'm learning something. It was a great experience for me."

Two fun moments from the opening 36, where Woods demonstrated improvement, writes Dan Kilbridge for Golfweek: a fun PGA Tour Instagram caption for the geese watching Tiger and that beautiful iron shot on the brutal par-3 17th:

"Dude, just act normal." -🦆(probably)

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Feb 21, 2018 at 8:40am PST

The 17th is the most difficult hole of the day. Don't tell Tiger.

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Feb 23, 2018 at 2:27pm PST

Tiger's Iron Play Improves And Aren't We Glad ShotLink Proves It

In his return to PGA National, Tiger Woods opened with an even par 70 in breezy conditions with greens under criticism from players for a lack of grass (Randall Mell reports).

Bob Harig's story for ESPN.com covers what was again, mostly positive, with one rough hole mixed in along with a less-than-pretty day statistically.

In Tiger's previous two starts, he noted and observers like myself confirmed that his iron play was needing work. While the sample size is small, GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner noted this from the round one ShotLink data:

The more telling stat was this: His proximity to the hole (28 feet) was more than an 11-foot improvement over his first two starts this year. And also this: He was 11th among the early starters in strokes gained-tee to green, which measures a player’s all-around ball-striking. Last week, at Riviera, he ranked 121st

While a mysterious sport like golf can't always be summed up in stats, this kind of nugget is not only practical to Tiger, but to media and fans wanting to quantify progress. It's all a reminder that the PGA Tour's investment in ShotLink has often been underestimated in its magnitude, as is the tireless effort of the ShotLink crew and their volunteers each week.

Tiger Wheels It Right Back At Honda, Meets Stoneman Douglas High Student Volunteer

Tiger's wheeling himself right back into the PGA National fray and as Dan Kilbridge reports for Golfweek, there wasn't much to this new normal to say in advance of a 7:45 am tee time with Patton Kizzire and Brandt Snedeker.

There was, however, what sounded to me like an admission that his fused back, while making him pain free, may be complicating his feel for certain shots.

“I can’t create the same angles I used to be able to create naturally,” Woods said. “Obviously I’m fused, so it’s a little bit different and I’m starting to learn what it feels like under the gun. Some of the shots I like to play, they’re not the same as they used to be and that part I’m going to have to learn. It’s not something that I’m used to because I’ve never felt like this, but this is the new norm.”

Tiger Tracker had some interesting observations on Tiger's Pro-Am round, which sounded similar to low-key approaches he took at Torrey Pines and Riviera, but with some stingers thrown in this time.

Kara Duffy of the local CBS affiliate detailed Tiger's impromptu meeting with Stoneman Douglas high student Kevin Shanahan, who is again volunteering at the tournament and who was introduced to Tiger by caddie Joe LaCava.

On Wednesday, the caddie for Tiger Woods got wind that Shanahan is a student there. Moments later, the golf great called him over during warm ups at the driving range, and what may have been a minor exchange in his mind, meant the world to Kevin.

“It was really a majority of me thanking him because I thought, ‘oh my God I’m getting this signed by Tiger Woods,’ but it really felt like he talked from the heart,” Shanahan said. “It didn’t feel scripted, it felt like it really came from him being sincere and saying, ‘I’m really sorry that you’re going through this,’ and it made me feel awesome!”

Last year’s Honda Classic winner Rickie Fowler also stopped for a photo with the teen.

Quick Roundup: A Familiar Feeling First Round At Riviera, Only With Crowds!

The confluence of mega-stars and the strongest field of 2018 brought out the people, but if you watched any of round one you know Tiger-Justin-Rory got most of the eyeballs.

The three certainly didn't disappoint from the perspective of providing memorable shots--Tiger with two all-time recovery shots on the 5th and 9th holes--but each had their issues too.

As I noted for Golfweek, Tiger's driving gets all the attention but it was the iron play that let him down, while on the greens the contrast between Thomas and McIlroy is telling.

Others had similar takes, including James Corrigan at the Telegraph who labeled McIlroy's putting lousy. At GolfChannel.com, Will Gray has all of the details on the day, including Tiger's bizarre early morning lost ball at the 11th.

Tony Finau and Patrick Cantlay lead with afternoon 66's reports Eamon Lynch at Golfweek. That's a particularly strong showing for Cantlay given that his two previous professional appearances here were missed cuts.

Cantlay told a really swell Masters-related story during a long and insightful press session. The Forecaddie shared it at Golfweek.com.

As for the crowds, attendance figures are no longer attempted by touranment director Mike Antolini shared this when queried:

We've nearly doubled ticket sales from last year and demand continues to build in large part due to our terrific field, including Tiger. Today's crowds were strong and we expect them to grow even larger as we enter the weekend. It's great to see the fans come out to Riviera to experience the Genesis Open.

Tiger's first round highlights followed by the overall first round best of, courtesy of PGA Tour Entertainment.

Tiger Woods Rekindles His Unusual Riviera Relationship

All systems are a go as Tiger Woods returns for the first time since 2006 to play a PGA Tour event at Riviera.

His memories are mostly good here, as are his Riviera stats. But there was that unfortunate last appearance in 2006 (WD, illness) and other issues that kept him away from what is now the Genesis Open run by his foundation.

I write for Golfweek about the unusual relationship Woods has had with the course and everything that has changed since his last appearance.

Given where he was a year ago--not able to attend even basic tournament functions--that we're at this place a year later is a credit to his doctor and Tiger's renewed focus. Couple that with a stellar field and it should be a fun week.

In other Woods news, Golf Channel's Tim Rosaforte says Woods has not decided on his next start, with a looming Friday the deadline for next week's Honda Classic.

Updated Plans For Woods-Designed Chicago Park District Course

The Chicago Park District presented an refined vision that merges Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses, reports Lolly Bowean for the Tribune. The project, with players from Mark Rolfing to Tiger Woods to Mike Keiser to Barack Obama, could be a future host of PGA Tour events if it happens.

Community concerns were behind the revised routing and presentation. Cost is still very much an issue:

For more than a year, there has been a push to transform the two golf courses into a PGA Tour-worthy course. Constructing the new course would cost about $30 million and it would take another $30 million to make infrastructure improvements, said Michael Kelly, Park District general superintendent and CEO. At the public hearing, officials said much of the money would come from private donations, but a firm spending plan was not presented.

And there was this, where I'm pretty sure the writer innocently left out the key word "public":

Beau Welling, who is helping design the course for TGR, said the reason Tiger Woods wants to complete the project is because he sees it as an opportunity to improve a course that serves the public, not just elite athletes.

“I’ve never seen him so excited about a project,” Welling said at a news conference before the public meeting. “Tiger Woods is really about meaningful projects that have impact,” he said later. “It’s really about the community. Tiger Woods grew up on golf courses … this is a very special thing (for him).”

The updated routing:

Brandel Says He Can Fix Tiger's Driver Woes In Two Minutes

I'm fairly certain this is a lesson that won't be happening, but in the Golf Channel Podcast with Will Gray this week, Tiger-love/hater Brandel Chamblee proclaims that he's got the fix for Tiger's wayward driving.

From the online transcript dutifully posted by G.C. Digital, in case you're wondering, Tiger:

“And so I know that he’s trying to move off the ball, and he’s trying to stay tall. And if he does that, well, it’s game over. It’s game over. … I mean, I’m convinced, honest to God, if Tiger walked out here tomorrow, I would have Tiger driving the ball straight in two minutes. Two minutes. Two minutes. Because there’s no way he can’t do – all he needs to do is move three inches to the right in his backswing. That’s it. It’s game over from there. He can’t mess it up. But he doesn’t. He stays centered, and he drops down, and he turns left, and it’s like one bleeds into the next which causes another problem, which causes another problem, which requires another compensation. And you’ll never drive it good there. Never ever, ever. No one ever has; no one ever will."

Cue up those Curtis Strange tapes circa 1985 showing a nice three inch backswing slide, drink plenty of water and call Brandel's office if you have any more issues.

Tiger's Warm Up: Going With The Couples Method?

Twice I was assigned to cover Tiger Woods in The Open final rounds for Golf World, and both times it was great fun to note his ever move from course arrival to exit. I took particular interest in his warm-ups, which had the exact same process and number of shots struck give or take a ball or two. Here is my account from 2013 at Muirfield where I detail some of the meticulous routine.

So it was with interest I read in The Forecaddie that Tiger has been coming out swinging with his driver in a nod to the Fred Couples warm-up method. The theory being that starting out with wedges and huge divots is tougher on the back.

The PGA Tour put up this truncated look at his warm-up in the Hero World Challenge. It'll be fun to see next week at Torrey Pines if Woods reverts to his traditional method for tournament rounds or if the Couples approach is here to stay.

Rosaforte: Tiger Plays With Obama, Gets Rave Review From (Claude) Harmon

Nice to see Barack Obama getting some lessons from a Harmon, in this case Claude.

Nice to hear everyone, from the Harmons on down to the former President, apparently seeing a different Tiger than a few years ago.

And nice to see The Floridian enjoying such a resurgence under owner Jim Crane.

Golf Channel insider Tim Rosaforte reported on Morning Drive today about Tiger Woods’ recent round there alongside President Obama, who played another day there with Michael Jordan.

"Year after unveiling, what’s latest on Tiger Woods’ Chicago golf project?"

Not much, appears to be the answer from Teddy Greenstein.

In this Chicago Tribune update, Greenstein speaks to developer Mike Keiser, a consultant and donor for the rebuilding of two rundown muni's into a Tiger Woods redesign complimenting the Obama Presidential Libary.

While Keiser blames bureacrats and red tape, the ambitious design sounds like the main culprit.

But as Keiser knows, building a golf course on the South Side is way more complicated than doing it in rural Wisconsin. Here’s why:

•This isn’t merely adding a course. Golfers loyal to the Jackson Park and South Shore courses fear something will be taken from them. Or made more expensive.

•The construction of an underpass at 67th Street to link the properties could cost around $25 million. Other expensive roadwork needs to be done so golfers no longer have to dodge cars between holes. And the shoreline might have to be fortified.

•Some residents are wary of traffic issues during construction and the relocation of a nature sanctuary.

Video: Butch On Morning Drive, "Never Say Never" About Tiger

Famed golf instructor Butch Harmon's comments about Tiger's return revealed a few interesting tidbits as he spoke to Damon Hack on Morning Drive last week.

Matt Ginella and I spoke to Harmon about the new par-3 course he designed for Jim Crane at The Floridian: