Officialsportsbetting.com Golf Betting Tiger Woods finds success with familiar putter back in the bag

Tiger Woods finds success with familiar putter back in the bag

NORTON, Mass. - He was hot under the collar, but it had nothing to do with his golf, nor his decision to put his favorite putter back into play. Nope. The problem early in Tiger Woods' opening round of THE NORTHERN TRUST was more than the bogey he made on his fourth hole, the par-4 13th. It was the hot oil he uses to loosen up his cranky back. "I decided to put some up on my neck," Woods explained, "and it's not as tolerant as my lower back so it gets awfully hot." That situation remedied with a bottle of ice water, Woods watched the heat transfer to his golf game at TPC Boston. He played a nine-hole stretch - the par-5 18th to the par-3 eighth - in 5 under. RELATED: Full leaderboard Solid stuff that would have ignited roars had there been spectators, this time the hot stuff was halted not by a water bottle, but a wide-right drive at the par-4 ninth. Woods made bogey after he couldn't muscle the 207-yard shot out of the rough and missed the green. Still, for the most part Woods appeared content with his 3-under 68 that left him four off Harris English's clubhouse lead after the morning wave. Playing just his ninth competitive round since the PGA TOUR returned in mid-June after a three-month break, Woods was accompanied by the putter that has been in his hands for nearly everything that made him an icon. He had used the Scott Cameron Newport 2 GSS in 14 of his 15 major championships, so when he put it on the bench for the PGA Championship two weeks ago, it was considered big news. Woods explained that he liked the longer shaft and heavier feel to the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless, but he conceded that the results at TPC Harding Park were less than what he envisioned. "Had one good day, the first day (he shot 68), and then after that I didn't really putt well," he said. This week, at a place where Woods has won and played consistently well, the old standby is in play. And? "I had a good feel today. I had nice pace and I like the speed of these greens. They're fast," said Woods. "Even though they're soft, they're still quick. I just felt comfortable." The numbers supported him, even if they weren't off the charts. He needed just 29 putts, and at the completion of his round his Strokes Gained: Putting (+1.15) was ranked 18th. True, his longest putt was just 16 feet (at the par-3 third) and he made a made a modest 66 feet, 5 inches of putts, but never did he appear stressed out on the putting surfaces. Like he said, comfortable. "That's one of the weird things about golf," he said. "It's just the way it is sometimes." Of course, here's another aspect of golf that is hard to ignore: It's the tee shot that puts everything in motion and this is where the numbers were not so kind to Woods in Thursday's opening round. He did hit five of the first seven fairways, but moving to TPC Boston's front nine, Woods hit the first fairway, then missed each of the next six. OK, a disclaimer is needed, however, as the 298-yard par-4 fourth is a hole that players try to drive, and Woods was not unhappy with finding the bunker; he made birdie. Coming on top of the 16-footer he had made at the par-3 third, Woods was officially on the move. He continued nicely by converting a 6-footer for birdie at the par-5 seventh, then hit arguably his best iron shot of the day to birdie from 7 feet at the 225-yard, par-3 eighth. If the closing bogey unsettled him, Woods didn't let on. There have been questions about a busy stretch of golf, possibly four starts in five weeks beginning here at THE NORTHERN TRUST. But the 44-year-old Woods, the guy who began his day with hot oil to warm up, just shrugged. "I've got to get to Atlanta (and the TOUR Championship for the top 30 in the FedExCup standings) first," he said. "I'm not in." Not currently, as he sits 49th in the standings. But an opening 68 was surely a step in the right direction.

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2nd Round Match-Ups - M. Hughes vs N. Taylor
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Nick Taylor-120
Mackenzie Hughes+100
2nd Round Match-Ups - A. Rozner v M. Pavon
Type: Requests - Status: OPEN
Antoine Rozner-115
Matthieu Pavon-105
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Taylor / T. Pendrith / M. Hughes
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Taylor Pendrith+130
Nick Taylor+180
Mackenzie Hughes+230
2nd Round 3-Balls - M. Pavon / A. Svensson / A. Wise
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Matthieu Pavon+125
Adam Svensson+135
Aaron Wise+350
1st Round 3-Balls - L. Coughlin / J.Y. Ko / R. Takeda
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Jin Young Ko+135
Rio Takeda+160
Lauren Coughlin+240
2nd Round Match-Ups - L. Aberg vs R. McIIroy
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy-130
Ludvig Aberg+110
2nd Round Match-Ups - K. Mitchell vs T. Detry
Type: 2nd Round Match-Ups - Status: OPEN
Keith Mitchell-120
Thomas Detry+100
2nd Round 3-Balls - R. McIIroy / L. Aberg / L. Clanton
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Rory McIlroy+125
Ludvig Aberg+165
Luke Clanton+275
2nd Round 3-Balls - T. Detry / K. Mitchell / B. Hun An
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Keith Mitchell+145
Thomas Detry+170
Byeong Hun An+225
1st Round 3-Balls - N. Korda / M. Stark / M. Saigo
Type: 1st Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Nelly Korda-110
Mao Saigo+200
Maja Stark+320
2nd Round 3-Balls - H. Hall / T. Moore / K. Kitayama
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Harry Hall+145
Kurt Kitayama+180
Taylor Moore+200
2nd Round 3-Balls - C. Villegas / E. Grillo / N. Hardy
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Emiliano Grillo+105
Nick Hardy+180
Camilo Villegas+300
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Lashley / A. Smalley / V. Perez
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Alex Smalley+120
Victor Perez+165
Nate Lashley+300
2nd Round 3-Balls - J. Dahmen / P. Rodgers / C. Young
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Patrick Rodgers+135
Carson Young+180
Joel Dahmen+220
2nd Round 3-Balls - K. Onishi / M. Creighton / M. Anderson
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Matthew Anderson+140
Myles Creighton+185
Kaito Onishi+210
2nd Round 3-Balls - T. Rosenmueller / M. Andersen / J. Goldenberg
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Thomas Rosenmueller+100
Matthew Anderson+170
Josh Goldenberg+340
2nd Round 3-Balls - K. Velo / B. Thornberry / W. Heffernan
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Kevin Velo+110
Braden Thornberry+145
Wes Heffernan+375
2nd Round 3-Balls - P. Peterson / P. Knowles / H. Thomson
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Hunter Thomson+135
Paul Peterson+140
Philip Knowles+300
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Norgaard / G. Sargent / J. Keefer
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Johnny Keefer+110
Niklas Norgaard+120
Gordon Sargent+550
2nd Round 3-Balls - A. Rozner / V. Covello / W. Wang
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Antoine Rozner-230
Vince Covello+400
Wei-Hsuan Wang+425
2nd Round 3-Balls - T. Kanaya / T. Cone / A.J. Ewart
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Takumi Kanaya-110
A J Ewart+250
Trevor Cone+250
2nd Round 3-Balls - N. Goodwin / Y. Cao / B. Botha
Type: 2nd Round 3-Balls - Status: OPEN
Noah Goodwin+110
Barend Botha+200
Yi Cao+250
Major Specials 2025
Type: To Win A Major 2025 - Status: OPEN
Bryson DeChambeau+500
Jon Rahm+750
Collin Morikawa+900
Xander Schauffele+900
Ludvig Aberg+1000
Justin Thomas+1100
Joaquin Niemann+1400
Shane Lowry+1600
Tommy Fleetwood+1800
Tyrrell Hatton+1800
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US Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler+275
Rory McIlroy+650
Bryson DeChambeau+700
Jon Rahm+1200
Xander Schauffele+2000
Ludvig Aberg+2200
Collin Morikawa+2500
Justin Thomas+3000
Joaquin Niemann+3500
Shane Lowry+3500
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The Open 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
Scottie Scheffler+400
Rory McIlroy+500
Xander Schauffele+1200
Ludvig Aberg+1400
Collin Morikawa+1600
Jon Rahm+1600
Bryson DeChambeau+2000
Shane Lowry+2500
Tommy Fleetwood+2500
Tyrrell Hatton+2500
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Ryder Cup 2025
Type: Winner - Status: OPEN
USA-150
Europe+140
Tie+1200

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One group’s arduous trek at THE PLAYERS ChampionshipOne group’s arduous trek at THE PLAYERS Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A fan leaned over the nylon rope with his arm extended as Justin Thomas marched to the first tee to start his rain-delayed first round at THE PLAYERS Championship. “Air bump,” Thomas said as he held out his fist in the direction of the fan. Collin Morikawa greeted PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan on his way to the tee, as did Rory McIlroy. The sun shone and all was calm at Golden Hour, nearly 5:56 p.m. Thursday, their new tee time. The rain had delayed things five-plus hours, but the chaos was just beginning. With 4.8 inches of rain giving way to brutal wind, Group 31’s hellish first round would take parts of three days and 43 hours to complete. “Bethpage ’09 U.S. Open is probably the closest I’ve experienced to something like this,” McIlroy said after shooting a second-round 73 (2 over total). What did he do to kill time with his wife, Erica, and daughter, Poppy? “A lot of ‘Frozen.’ A lot of ‘Peppa Pig.’ A lot of ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.’” It was less a first round for the ages than a first round that could age you. McIlroy, Morikawa and Thomas played two holes Thursday, 13 holes Friday, and took up where they’d left off with their second shots at the par-5 16th hole as play restarted at noon Saturday. Their seemingly never-ending first round ended just before 1 p.m. as Thomas doubled 18 to shoot 72, McIlroy was 132nd (of 143) in putting for 73, and Morikawa (also 73) bogeyed 17 and 18. They were immediately sent back out for more, and Thomas wowed with a 3-under 69 in the wind, second best of the second round (Bubba Watson, 68). Morikawa shot 75 and was at 4 over. Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge are co-leaders, but only Fleetwood (even through three holes) has even begun his second round. The 36-hole cut won’t likely come until around noon Sunday. “It was very weird, obviously hard to get into a rhythm,” Thomas said of the Round 1 slog. “Had a lot of different emotions; first off thinking it looks like we were on the right side of the draw and being pretty excited about that, and then realizing that was very much not the fact. “And then just having to get over that as quick as I could,” he continued, “because it’s obviously frustrating, especially when I feel like I’m playing well, kind of getting just thrown into something like that.” He had so much time to think about the tedium of the first round, and how it could have been avoided, he began to fault his scheduling priorities. “To be perfectly honest, I blame Tiger,” he said, tongue in cheek, “because I played in the afternoon so I could go to his Hall of Fame ceremony (late Wednesday night). If I would have just maybe stuck to my guns and played early, I would have been better. I’m just joking.” All told, there were 35 of the 72 players in the late Thursday wave who started their opening round that night and ended it Saturday afternoon. Their experiences underline what a strange tournament this has been, and sent some observers scrambling to find comparisons, if any exist. In 2016, Jaime Diaz wrote in Golf Digest about the 1986 U.S. Women’s Open at the NCR C.C. in Dayton, Ohio: “The championship was first delayed after a railroad tanker derailed and spilled a load of phosphates, which raised clouds of poison smoke throughout the community. Shortly thereafter, the area also experienced heavy lightning storms and a 4.2 earthquake. When the sun finally came out, players complained of flesh-eating flies.” This PLAYERS hasn’t been that crazy, but it has required near superhuman levels of patience, and a closer look at the featured group of McIlroy, Morikawa and Thomas shows just how much patience. Morikawa posted on social media that he spent more time warming up than playing Thursday, when the threesome got in exactly two holes and one tee shot – by Morikawa – before darkness halted play. On Friday, after players were taken off the course and play was finally called at 3 p.m., Thomas posted a picture of himself and his dog, Franklin, with the tag: “Rain delay stuff.” “Not much,” he said, when asked how else he killed time. “We have some good friends that live like 15 minutes away, so we’re staying in their house. The Spieths are there with us, so we’ve just been hanging out. I will say that a dog and a baby keeps the downtime, occupies it a lot easier for the both of us.” (Jordan Spieth and wife Annie welcomed a son, Sammy, in November.) The downside for Thomas after his stellar second round was that a Monday finish at TPC Sawgrass, as is now inevitable, means he and his father, Mike, must cancel a trip to Augusta National on Monday and Tuesday. The bright side is that he, and likely McIlroy, will play on after the cut. “Yeah, it’s unfortunate,” McIlroy said of the weather the last three days, “but hopefully sort of get back on track tomorrow and get this thing going.”

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