NBC analyst Johnny Miller set to retire in February

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Tiger Woods approached the green with putter in hand. It’s a common sight for a player known as one of the best iron players of all-time. It’s what preceded that scene, though, that was noteworthy. Woods didn’t hit a tee shot or an approach. That was the scene on the back nine of Woods’ Wednesday pro-am. A few chips and putts were the only shots he struck. He said stiffness in his back kept him from making full swings for much of his round. RELATED: Power Rankings | Preview: Tiger at THE NORTHERN TRUST | What you need to know for FedExCup Playoffs  “This is how it is. Some days I’m stiffer than others,â€� said Woods, who played a nine-hole practice round with Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Harold Varner III on Tuesday. “I was out there hitting it great. Driving it out there with Brooksy and DJ. Today I’m stiff. Hopefully I’m not that way tomorrow.â€� Woods is scheduled to tee off at 7:43 a.m. Thursday with J.T. Poston and Scott Piercy. THE NORTHERN TRUST’s tee times were determined by the FedExCup standings, and this group represents players on the TOUR Championship bubble. Piercy, Poston and Woods are Nos. 26-28 in the standings, respectively. For Woods, a TOUR Championship berth would allow him to return to the scene of last year’s memorable triumph, where the fans flooded the final fairway to follow Woods as he completed his first victory since 2013. It also would mean three consecutive weeks of golf, something that is a concern for the 43-year-old golfer with a spinal fusion. “I learned a lot last year by playing too much. Coming back from my procedure and not really knowing what to expect, I pushed it pretty hard,â€� Woods said. “I vowed I would never do that again. … Now we have a more condensed season and it’s trying to figure out how to stay sharp, practice and also have my back feeling good all the time. It’s a challenge.â€� This is Woods’ first tournament since shooting 78-70 at The Open Championship. He’s played just four times since his Masters victory. He’s missed two cuts in majors during that span, and his best finish was T9 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Woods was runner-up in his previous two trips to Liberty National, in the 2009 and 2013 editions of THE NORTHERN TRUST, but he has an interesting history at this course that sits across the Hudson River from Manhattan. It was here that Woods suffered one of the biggest upsets of his career, first showed signs of the back pain that would cripple him for several years and admitted in a press conference that he faced an uncertain future in the game. Heath Slocum holed a 20-foot par putt on the final hole to nip Woods by a shot in the 2009 NORTHERN TRUST here. Slocum started the tournament ranked 124th in the FedExCup and 197th in the world ranking. Adam Scott beat Woods by a stroke four years later. Woods collapsed to his knees while hitting a fairway wood on the 13th hole of the final round. He said he was having back spasms caused by a soft mattress in his hotel room. Woods also was at Liberty National two years ago as a captain’s assistant for Steve Stricker at the Presidents Cup. It was at a pre-tournament press conference that he admitted his back problems made it difficult to ride in a car and that he didn’t know “what the future holds for me.â€� Woods is the U.S. Presidents Cup captain this year. He held a dinner for potential team members on Tuesday. He is 12th in the standings, but said his appearance as a player at Royal Melbourne is not a certainty. “I told the guys last night that’s what guaranteed are the top eight after next week. That’s what’s guaranteed,â€� Woods said. The top eight in the standings after next week’s BMW Championship earn spots on the team. Woods will make four captain’s picks after the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Woods is the reigning Masters champion, but also has shown signs of age in recent starts. Wednesday was another example of that. His ongoing back trouble has kept him from swinging the way he’d like in recent months. Instructor Matt Killen has been helping him with his putting and full swing in recent months. “(He’s) trying to get me to basically swing very similar to how I was looking at Augusta, but easier said than done,â€� Woods said. “I’ve been trying to do that all summer, it just hasn’t worked out that way.â€� He still has an opportunity to become the first three-time FedExCup champion, though. His body has to cooperate, though. “He’s Tiger Woods. He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone,â€� said Rory McIlroy. “He doesn’t need to prove anything else to himself. He can put the clubs away tomorrow and live happily ever after, I guess. But he wants to compete. He’s a competitor. I think it shows a lot that he still turns up to some events and wants to play.â€�

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SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa says the back injury he picked up at the Olympics in Japan that spoiled his FedExCup Playoffs tilt is behind him as he looks ahead to his Ryder Cup debut for the U.S. Team at Whistling Straits. Fresh off winning the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. Georges in July, Morikawa pulled a muscle in his lower back during the first round of Olympic competition in Tokyo and figured he could battle his way through it. The injury occurred on the 14th hole after he tried hitting out of “sticky rough”. Had it not been a team event Morikawa said he may have withdrawn and despite the pain he battled all the way to a T4 finish. A Sunday 63 saw him enter a seven-way playoff for the bronze medal that was won by C.T. Pan. The Californian entered the FedExCup Playoffs as the No. 1 seed thanks to his two-win season but missed the cut at THE NORTHERN TRUST and was T63 in a 69-man field at the BMW Championship before his T26 finish at the TOUR Championship. “It was just bad timing. The biggest thing I learned from those three weeks was to never play injured. I’m never going to do that again, no matter what it is,” Morikawa said. “It built bad habits into my golf swing. By the time the Playoffs had started at Liberty I thought my back was feeling good, but I had just built in some really bad swing patterns, and that’s what happens when you play with an injury.” The 24-year-old says the few weeks rest between East Lake and the Ryder Cup have him back in the right physical condition. “I’m 100 percent healthy. Knock on wood right now, but I’m feeling great,” he said. “Those three weeks I was just trying to figure out how do I hit it better because that’s a big part of my game, trusting, knowing where the golf ball is going to go. “It feels good. I was talking with Xander yesterday, and he looked at me, and he’s like, You’re back, and I was like, Yeah, I’m back. The cuts are back, and it’s a good time to have that shot.” DJ and teams heed Whistling Straits Bunker Warning U.S. Team member Dustin Johnson may have taken closer note than most with a notice given to all players ahead of the Ryder Cup to do with the 1,012 bunkers on the course. Johnson famously was penalized on the final hole of the 2010 PGA Championship for grounding his club in one of the many sandy areas that proliferate the course both in and outside the ropes. The two-shot ding cost him the tournament won by Martin Kaymer in a playoff over Bubba Watson. “All areas of the course that were designed and built as bunkers (Rule 12) will be played as bunkers during the Ryder Cup,” read the notice. “Bunkers inside the gallery rope line will be raked each morning prior to play and touched up again between sessions. Rakes are provided for the caddies allowing bunkers to be smoothed as a courtesy to other players and for care of the course. “During play, footprints, indentations, vehicular damage or uneven surfaces may develop. However, whether inside or outside the gallery rope line, relief without penalty is NOT allowed for interference by any of these alterations to the surface of the ground, whether or not smoothed.” Johnson, at 37, is the eldest member of the U.S. Team by five years and is playing his fifth Ryder Cup. But the laconic former FedExCup champion wouldn’t elaborate on any role as a leader within the youngest U.S. Team in history. “It’s a little strange for me just that I’ve never been the oldest. I always felt like I was one of the younger guys on the team. Still feel that way, but obviously I’m, I guess, the veteran on the team really,” Johnson said. “It’s a role that I enjoy, but obviously with the guys on the team, all of them are very good player, so don’t really have to do much. My role is to win as many matches as I can or just worry about my match that I’m playing in, help the team in any way that I can or that they need. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

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Round 2 of the Wells Fargo Championship takes place Friday from Quail Hollow. The star-studded field includes FedExCup leader Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Viktor Hovland and Will Zalatoris. Max Homa returns as the defending champion from 2019. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Groups), Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). TOURCast: Get shot-by-shot info in real time with shot tracks and video with TOURCast. TOUR Pulse: Get the PGA TOUR app to utilize TOUR Pulse, which provides users the ability to experience a mix of content, such as video highlights, written hole summaries and stat graphics on every player after every hole they complete. FEATURED GROUPS Max Homa/Jon Rahm/Tim Wilkinson (tee times) Justin Thomas/Viktor Hovland/Patrick Cantlay (tee times) Bryson DeChambeau/Joaquin Niemann/Xander Schauffele (tee times) Stewart Cink/Patrick Reed/Rory McIlroy (tee times) MUST READS Phil Mickelson leads by two shots at Wells Fargo Championship Rickie Fowler solid in return at Wells Fargo Championship Keith Mitchell rebounds from bent putter fiasco A closer look at Bryson DeChambeau’s low-lofted fairway wood Cut prediction: Wells Fargo Championship Neck injury forces Webb Simpson to withdraw from Wells Fargo Insider: Inside Max Homa’s mind CALL OF THE DAY

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