Tiger Woods has a lot of work to do at The Open, and here is how his second round is going

ORLANDO, Fla. – Gary Woodland took a long look across the large practice green at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on Tuesday, and it kind of felt like home. It should. Woodland used to live just a short drive away in Orlando’s gated Lake Nona community, and pretty much grew up as a professional around here, a regular at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. He lives down the east coast in Delray Beach now, a Kansas guy near the ocean. A good deal has changed since Woodland last was here in 2016, which was Arnold Palmer’s last year as host. Woodland became a father, for one, as he and his wife, Gabby, now look after three young children, including twin girls born in 2019. Golf-wise, Woodland, now 37, winner of the 2019 U.S. Open, just hasn’t felt like himself for a couple of years. Once ranked as highly as 12th in the Official World Ranking, he slid to No. 142 before teeing it up in last week’s Honda Classic. A lot played into that slide, including injuries that promoted poor swing habits. He reached a breaking point after missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open three weeks ago. It was time to accept where he was, and then start doing something about it. At the rugged Honda Classic on Sunday, where danger lurks everywhere, Woodland tied for fifth. Sunday, he shot 67 in difficult conditions. It was one tournament, sure, but the way he felt on the golf course was, well, different. And that in itself was refreshing to him. “On one of the most demanding golf courses we see all year (PGA National), it was pretty stress-free for me,” Woodland said. “Even when I got into trouble, I knew what I was doing. I felt comfortable all week. Coming down the stretch on Sunday – 15, 17, those holes can jump up and get you – and I felt as good as I’ve felt in a long time. I’m talking a couple of years. That was nice.” Woodland has been one of the PGA TOUR’s premier ballstrikers for years. The mammoth drives, the 2-iron stingers, the crisp, towering irons. Solid tee to green, his successes often came down to his putting. But Woodland grew so uneasy with his long game that he said he stood in fairways in Phoenix with little idea where he his next shot might travel. “On 15 there, par 5, I had a 6-iron into the green that I pulled into a bunker,” he said. “I said, ‘Butchy (what he calls his caddie, Brennan Little), I don’t know where this thing is going.’ That’s a horrible feeling. I can’t play this way.” Woodland went home and got to work. It helps that a bad hip that had bothered him was now pain-free, and he can make the motions in his powerful swing that he needs to make. His putting has been pretty good, frankly. He has worked hard on it with Phil Kenyon, and it was solid again at Honda. Only a three-putt from 8 feet at the final hole kept him from being in the top 10 in strokes gained. He will look for more of the same at Bay Hill. A well-rounded athlete, Woodland usually walks around TOUR stops the way Clint Eastwood used to walk through Westerns. There’s a presence about him, and you wouldn’t want to see him in an alley. He acknowledges that some of his swagger is back. Honda marked the first of four consecutive Florida starts for him (he is a past champion at Valspar) as he looks to build some rhythm. Woodland’s veteran caddie, Little, likes the way things seem to be trending. “We all know this game,” Little said. “It knocks you down, and then you start to see guys playing well, so he’s on a good track getting up. Now he just needs to keep climbing. His practice rounds have been good, his swing has been good, but you have to get it done. Until you see results, it’s really hard for a guy to get confidence.” Woodland used to work with Butch Harmon, and when the legendary teacher retired in 2018, it had a big impact on him. Beyond providing thoughts on the swing, Harmon was an endless resource in building up a player’s confidence. Woodland has been working with Mark Blackburn, who teaches a handful of TOUR players including Max Homa, and he’s happy with the progress they’ve made. He has some Harmon “feels” back. But there is nothing quite like having the sage voice of Harmon in his ear. “It was hard on me. I relied on Butch, more for confidence than anything,” Woodland said. “He’s always a phone call away, I know. But there were numerous times when I’ve gone to see him, and you feel like you’re the worst golfer in the world. When you leave, you feel like you’re the best golfer in the world – no matter how you’re playing.” Woodland is thankful that he reached a tipping point and hit pause on the season. His missed cut in Phoenix (68-73) led to a long flight home and an honest assessment of where he was in his game. An elite player who was on the 2019 Presidents Cup team, he wasn’t feeling too elite. It was his sixth missed cut in eight starts this season, and there was work to do. Since, he has begun to feel things coming together. Bay Hill, where the rough is thick and lush, will be every bit of demanding as Honda was a week ago. Bring it on, he says. “I think I was denying where I had dropped in the world, denying everything that has happened,” Woodland said. “It was time to accept it, and move on, and start working my way back. “Last week was a big step for me. I was able to do stuff last week hitting a golf ball that I hadn’t done in a long time. That’s encouraging to me. There are no more Band-Aid fixes. You have to accept where you are, and start climbing back up.” Here in a town where his professional career pretty much got jump-started, Woodland is in a good place mentally, and ready to climb again.

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U.S. Captain Tiger Woods says he will consult his assistants and players, but ultimately the decision on whether he picks himself for the Presidents Cup will fall on his own shoulders. Woods failed to make the team as one of the top eight automatic qualifiers for the biennial teams event that will be held at Royal Melbourne in Australia on Dec. 12-15, but the veteran still has four captains picks up his sleeve. “My job as the captain is to put together the best team possible and try and put together the best 12 guys,â€� Woods said via teleconference on Monday. “That’s what I’m trying to do. We’ll be going through the whole process of having open communication with our top eight guys and my vice captains. “That is something that we will certainly talk about, whether I should play or not play. Ultimately it’s going to be my call whether I do play or not as the captain. But I want to have all of their opinions before that decision is made.â€� The 43-year-old’s season ended this week at the BMW Championship after he failed to move into the top 30 players who qualified for the TOUR Championship, the tournament he famously won a year ago at East Lake Golf Club. After winning the Masters in spectacular fashion in April, his 81st TOUR win and 15th major championship, Woods only played six more events this season. In those, he had one top 10, but missed two cuts and withdrew after one round of THE NORTHERN TRUST with an oblique strain. As such the idea of Woods being a player in the Presidents Cup had cooled over the past few months. And while he says those wanting a pick should stay competitively sharp, Woods himself has only committed to one event in the fall portion of the new season, the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan from Oct. 24-27. His picks are due a week later. The only previous playing captain in Presidents Cup history was Hale Irwin in the inaugural event in 1994. Others in line for a pick include, but are not limited to Tony Finau, U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play winner Kevin Kisner, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and young guns Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff. The four selections will join Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau. “We talked about how important it is to be committed to the team and to the event and to each other, and that means playing and being prepared,â€� Woods said. “The only time that we have ever lost a Cup was in Australia (1998), and quite frankly, some of the guys didn’t play or practice that much. It was our off-season, and we got beat pretty badly. “It’s something that I try to reinforce to the guys, that it is important to be solid, be fresh, and to be sharp because we’re going overseas and we’re playing against an amazing team, and it’s on their soil. These guys are going to be tough to beat. So we’re looking forward to the challenge.â€� But what of his own schedule? Woods says his preparation will include copious practice and side games with other TOUR players who live in and around him in Florida. “It’s practicing, it’s playing, it’s staying sharp. Obviously I’m playing in Japan, and so that’s going to help,â€� Woods said of his own preparation. “It has to do with a lot of my competitions I’m going to have down here. I’ll be playing with a lot of the guys here. They’re going to be getting ready for some of the fall events, we’ll have some matches, and that’s always fun because we’re able to talk trash and have a great time and try and get in one another’s pockets. “That will be something that I will definitely rely on, and obviously the event in Japan will be a big deal.â€� The U.S. Team has a 10-1-1 record in the Presidents Cup, not losing since 1998 at Royal Melbourne. The International team already has four rookies in terms of team play from its eight automatic selections. Led by Ernie Els, the Internationals have bowed to use new tactics, based on analytics, to try to topple the U.S. juggernaut. The last time the two teams met it was a 19-11 dismantling. The Cup was almost secured before Sunday singles. Everything points towards more U.S. dominance. Only Webb Simpson is without a win in 2019 from the U.S. team. Only C.T. Pan has a 2019 win from the Internationals. But Woods won’t allow complacency. He hopes most of his team will play in the Hero World Challenge he hosts in the Bahamas the week prior before heading to Melbourne to further secure comradery and form. “We could be (beaten), yes, in theory. But you have to look at the fact that it’s played out there on the golf course, not on paper,â€� Woods said. “I’ve been a part of some pretty amazing teams over the years. We had a pretty solid team going down to Australia in ’98. We’ve had some pretty solid teams in Ryder Cups, as well, and I’ve been on the losing end of those. It’s played out on the course. So that’s something that I’ve told my players.â€�

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