Watch: Tiger Woods Makes Tournament's Hardest Hole Look Easy
Is Tiger Woods, at 42 years old, finally back for real?
The way he’s been playing golf lately, you could certainly make the argument, and Woods has been hammering home his case once again this weekend on the course.
At Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, Tiger shot a 66 on Thursday to go 4 under par through round one of the Bridgestone Invitational.
That in itself would’ve been plenty impressive, but on the 12th hole in the second round, Tiger went to 3 under on the day to that point, all while getting closest-to-the-hole honors on the par 3; if he got any closer, he might well have had a hole in one.
See for yourself: It’s a spectacular curveball to get around some trees on the left side that would normally punish an aggressive attack at a left-of-the-green pin placement.
The hardest hole on the course Friday is no match for @TigerWoods.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/D0E0Xnl3LU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 3, 2018
The subsequent 22-inch putt broke a string of six straight pars after Woods had started the day with a bogey, birdied 2, 3 and 5, and then went into a holding pattern.
Woods faded a bit late, carding a 2-under 68 for the day, good for 6 under overall and a tie for 10th place, five shots off the lead but just three shots away from the top five.
Ian Poulter, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas all finished Friday at minus-11, and Poulter’s 62 on Thursday is the low round of the tournament so far.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour points out that Woods does in the “third quarter” of a golf tournament what the Golden State Warriors do in the third quarter of basketball games …
.@TigerWoods leads the TOUR in Round 3 Scoring Average. (68.20)
He starts Saturday 5 shots back. pic.twitter.com/moHt0WNsA4
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 4, 2018
Tiger tees off at 1:05 Eastern time, and if he’s going to make a move and put himself in the hunt on Sunday, the numbers say he’s just the guy who can do it.
Woods, if he holds his position on the leaderboard, would put up his third straight top 10 finish; he was sixth at the British Open and fourth at the Quicken Loans National back at the end of June.
Overall, he has five top 10s this year, although his first Tour win since 2013 has eluded him.
Then again, that win five years ago? It was at the Bridgestone, on the same course Tiger’s hitting physics-defying shots this weekend.
Golf is often criticized for being too centered on the fame of a player whose best days were so long ago that young people playing the game today can’t even remember the time Tiger spent breaking the PGA Tour, causing “Tiger-proofing” on major championship courses and being the face of the sport for his generation.
But as long as Woods can swing a club, he’s going to have the potential to make noise on the leaderboard.
And just wait until he gets to the Senior Tour in 2026.
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