Tiger Woods signalled he is back to his best after a commanding seven stroke victory at last week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
The 37-year-old still requires four more major wins to equal Jack Nicklaus’record of 18, but he’s primed for the 2013 PGA Championship, which kicks off on Thursday at Oak Hill.
It was a vintage Tiger performance at Firestone, after a second round of 61 set up the victory before he went into cruise control on the weekend, securing the win.
An eight-time winner of the Bridgestone Invitational, Woods has gone on to win 20% of majors after winning the week before, but his driving accuracy is one part of the game he must improve for Oak Hill, with thick rough prominent.
“I liked it when I played here in ’03. I think it’s a fantastic golf course. It’s tough. It’s right in front of you,” Woods said.
“You just have to play well. This is one of those courses where you’ve just got to bring it ball striking wise. You’ve got to hit the ball well.”
Woods’ putting has been a make and break part of his game over the past few seasons. Reports from the course were that the world number one putted to four separate spots on each green in yesterday’s practice round as he looked to become better equipped to the tricky surfaces.
“I feel like my game’s pretty good,” he continued.
“As I was saying to a lot of you guys last week, that’s how I played at the British Open. Only difference is I made more putts last week. I hit it just as good at Muirfield, and didn’t make any putts the last three days.
“At Firestone, I putted well, but I hit the ball just the same.
“‘Stricks’ [Steve Stricker] and I were talking about that yesterday as we were hitting putts. These little ridges and little waves in the greens, a little bit of grain here and there; they are tough. They are tricky to read.
“We were putting to holes, what we thought were the hole location areas. A lot of the long putts had double breaks in them. It’s going to be important to hit a lot of greens and give yourself opportunities.”
History suggests Woods needs to be holding the lead coming into the final round if he would like to lift the trophy come Sunday evening, but if it all goes to plan then his five year major hiatus could finally come to an end, and will re-ignite discussion once again about breaking Nicklaus’ record.
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