Tiger Woods live blog: Tiger likely to make the cut at Riviera after closing birdie on Saturday morning

Last year's ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was Tiger Woods' record-tying 82nd victory on the PGA TOUR. This week, he defends that title in the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD. It will be the first time since August 2014 that he will play an event as the defending champion. This will be Woods' eighth attempt at his 83rd PGA TOUR victory, an achievement that would move him ahead of Sam Snead and into first place alone on the career wins list. RELATED LINKS: 15th Club | Tiger and Sherwood are a perfect match Of those first 82, which were the most impressive from a statistical perspective? What parts of Woods' game shined brightest in the biggest moments? Some answers were tougher to deduce than others, but I tried to answer those questions. Here are Woods’ best statistical performances from his 82 wins. Off the Tee: 2009 Memorial Tournament Woods' performance at the 2009 Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide was a statistical masterpiece off the tee. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee, but didn't do it how you may think. Woods hit 87.5% of his fairways, tying his highest percentage as a professional in a PGA TOUR event. That included a run of 18 straight fairways hit to conclude a one-shot victory over Jim Furyk. Non-ShotLink division: 1997 Masters: To this day, partly because of the course changes that came after Woods’ 12-shot win, a 21-year-old Woods holds the Masters Tournament single-week average driving distance record, at 323.1 yards. Woods' advantage over the field average that week was an incomprehensible 46 yards per drive (277.1). For perspective, Bryson DeChambeau averaged 322.1 yards off the tee in 2019-2020, 25.7 yards further than the TOUR average for the season. Woods also hit 47 fairways for the week, one fewer than he hit two years prior as an amateur. Since statistical tracking began about 40 years ago, there are two instances where a player averaged 310 or more yards and hit 45 or more fairways in a Masters. Both were Woods (1995 and 1997). Approach Play: 2006 THE NORTHERN TRUST Woods' performance in the 2000 U.S. Open is the most dominant in the game's history, and his iron play was a huge part of it. We'll get to that tournament in a moment, but first we'll look at his best approach performance in the ShotLink era: the 2006 THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston. That week, Woods racked up a staggering 14.6 Strokes Gained: Approach, six strokes more than anyone else in the field (Robert Karlsson was second, at 8.31). It's the most Strokes Gained: Approach for Woods in any single event in his career. The 2006 season saw Woods reach iron play levels not seen by anyone since: he averaged a TOUR-best 2.07 Strokes Gained: Approach per round, a mark not bettered since. Non-ShotLink division: 2000 U.S. Open: During a week in which the field hit less than 50% of the greens in regulation (48.4%), Woods hit 70.8% for the tournament. His 51 greens hit in regulation were seven more than anyone else (Fred Couples and David Toms each hit 44) and translated to a field-best 21 birdies. Arguably the most dominating performance in pro sports history, Woods' 2000 U.S. Open victory is nearly impossible to top from a ball-striking perspective. Short Game: 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational At Bay Hill in 2009, Woods lost strokes to the field on his drives and approach shots (-0.43 for the tournament), yet still got to shake Mr. Palmer's hand and lift the trophy that Sunday afternoon. He did it through sensational short-game play, getting up and down for par 24 times, his most across 79 stroke-play victories on TOUR. Woods led the field for the week in Strokes Gained: Around-The-Green, at 1.69 per round. Non-ShotLink division: 1999 Walt Disney World Classic: Honorable mention here goes to another Orlando-area win 10 years prior, at the 1999 Disney Classic. That week, Woods was a perfect 13-for-13 scrambling and claimed a one-shot victory despite seven three-putts. In the last 35 years, it's one of just four instances where a player had a perfect scrambling percentage for 72 holes (with ten or more attempts) and went on to win the tournament. Putting: 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational Woods' legacy of clutch putts makes this category maybe the most difficult to lock down. From ‘Better Than Most' at the 2001 PLAYERS to ‘Expect Anything Different' at the 2008 U.S. Open (both victories, by the way), memories of big moments abound from Woods' halcyon days. The most complete putting performance, statistically speaking, might have come at Bay Hill in 2013. Woods had 11.2 Strokes Gained: Putting for the week, by far his most in a win since ShotLink tracking began in 2004. He led the field in approach putt performance (a stat that measures lag putting ability) and made nearly 100 feet of putts per round. Woods' 14 putts made outside 10 feet that week are tied for his second-most in any single PGA TOUR event. Best Comeback: 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am While one triumph at Pebble Beach in 2000 has already been mentioned, what Woods did earlier that year at that same site was awe-inspiring, as well. At the 2000 AT&TPebble Beach Pro-Am, Woods trailed by seven strokes with nine holes to play. After a hole-out for eagle at 15, Woods birdied two of the last three to card a bogey-free 64 and win by two strokes. The previous year at Torrey Pines, Woods was tied for 36th place entering the third round, nine shots behind leader Ted Tryba. Woods shot 62-65 on the weekend to win by two strokes. It marks the only time in Woods' career he has won when outside the top 25 through 36 holes. Most Dominant: 2000 U.S. Open There are only two instances since 1900 where a player won a major championship by double digits. Both of those performances were turned in by Woods before he turned 25. Three years after the unthinkable 12-stroke runaway at Augusta National, Woods' 15-shot destruction of the field at Pebble Beach re-wrote the top lines in golf's record books, seemingly in uncrackable stone. While the 2000 U.S. Open (+29.21 Strokes Gained: Total) and 1997 Masters (+25.86) are easily listed as the two most dominant victories of Woods' legendary career, the intrigue comes when pondering what win is next on the list. By Strokes Gained: Total, it's the 2008 Farmers Insurance Open (+23.51), an eight-stroke romp at Torrey Pines where Woods led the field by a wide margin in Strokes Gained: Approach. By simply margin of victory, there are two others vying for the bronze: the 2003 Arnold Palmer Invitational and the 2000 WGC Invitational, both won by eleven strokes. Woods accounts for more than half of the double-digit wins on the PGA TOUR over the last 30 seasons (four of seven). In the 2000 PGA TOUR season, Woods had more wins by 11 strokes or more (two) than rounds of 74 or higher (one). How about the 2005 Open at St. Andrews? Woods won wire-to-wire (no ties after any round) and ended with a five stroke margin of victory - the only player to do both of those things at an Open Championship since World War II. For the most dominant player of his era, the choices seem endless.

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Since joining the PGA TOUR in 2018, Denny McCarthy has established himself as one of the best putters in the world, ranking first in Strokes Gained: Putting in both 2019 and 2020. This week, McCarthy is set to compete in the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Potomac at Avenel, which is just 14 miles from his birthplace of Takoma Park, Maryland. While preparing for the event, GolfWRX.com caught up with the 29-year-old to learn more about his putter, his mentality on the greens, how he prepares and why amateur golfers may struggle with putting themselves. Below, we highlight five key takeaways from the putting discussion with McCarthy, one of the game’s best putters. 1. FIND YOUR ‘FOREVER’ PUTTER McCarthy currently putts with a Scotty Cameron TOUR-only GoLo N7 mallet putter with a black finish, a white alignment line, a custom long neck, and a deep-milled face that produces a soft feel and muted sound. While he says he doesn’t always putt with the same exact putter from week to week — he makes slight variations depending on his feel and the green speeds — he does stick to the same style of putter head. McCarthy started using a GoLo mallet model while at the University of Virginia, and he’s stuck with it ever since. “I have 10 different versions of this GoLo head, basically,” McCarthy told GolfWRX.com. “The one thing I do keep very consistent is the black mallet style with the white line and the milled face. Then I might change the neck, or the weighting of it, depending on how fast the greens are, but I like to keep the head and how it looks the same. “I used a blade putter for a little bit as a kid, and then I used an old Odyssey Rossie mallet for a little awhile. Then in college I used a white (TaylorMade) Spider for a bit, then landed on the GoLo… it was very trial-and-error. I putted well with a mallet, with the Odyssey and the Spider, and then really liked the GoLo and everything about it. That was kind of like, ‘this is going to be my putter forever’… it’s just, to me, it’s the appearance of it. The way it sits on the ground.” Experimenting with different putters can be a fun and informative process, but once you find a head style that suits your stroke and preferences, it may be best to stick with it. 2. THROUGH THE GATE “I kind of stole it from (Tiger Woods),” McCarthy told GolfWRX. Like Woods, McCarthy uses a two-tee “gate” putting drill, which helps him square the face and make center contact. The drill is easy to set up. Simply place a golf ball about 5 feet from the hole on a straight putt. When you approach the ball with your putter, place a golf tee just outside of the toe and heel portions of the putter head. Then, hit putts by trying to keep the putter head within the tee “gate” at impact. It’s an easy way to train your stroke to make consistently centered impact with the golf ball. 3. GETTING ALIGNED Even though he has one of the best putting strokes in the game, McCarthy said his stroke can get a bit “wipey” if his alignment gets off. As he told GolfWRX, his stance tends to get a bit open at address, which leads to an outside-to-in stroke that leaves the face too open at impact. This causes a miss short and to the right. To help combat the issue, McCarthy simply lays down an alignment stick parallel to his target along his feet line. This helps him focus on keeping his stance square, and his putting stroke can flow freely from there. 4. AWAKEN YOUR INNER ARTIST According to McCarthy, putting should be treated as more of an art than a science. As part of his process, McCarthy picks out a target between his golf ball and the hole, such as a small imperfection in the green, or a piece of grass that’s a different color. Then, he lines up his golf ball to the intermediate target, and without taking a practice stroke, he lets his inner artist take over. “Treat it more as an art form than a science,” McCarthy said. “You don’t have to have a perfect stroke. My stroke is not perfect. I’m a good putter because I can see the greens well, and I track spots and I treat it more as an art form. I’m picking spots and ball marks, anything that stands out in my line. I line up my ball around those areas and see the arc of the putt as opposed to worrying about what my strokes doing.” To ensure that he’s lined up toward his intended target, McCarthy draws a line on his golf ball using a black marker. Then he aligns that line to his target, and he hits putts so that the line rolls end over end. While this is a common method of putting, McCarthy does it a bit differently. Instead of aligning the ball with the entire line showing, he tilts the line toward his target. He says he does this because although he wants the line there for a reference, he doesn’t want it to be his sole focus during the stroke. Remember, he treats putting as an art. Worrying too much about the line can restrict your stroke and make it less reactionary. 5. TRY TO MAKE IT Of course, not everyone can have the same confidence that one of the best putters in the world has, but a quick switch in mentality can work wonders. “I’m stepping into every putt like trying to give it a chance to go in,” McCarthy told GolfWRX. “I’m stepping into them trying to make them. I’m not trying to wish them up near the hole. If I’m getting a putter in my hands on the green putting for birdie, to me it’s like any putt is a good look to me. “Have fun with it as opposed to like, ‘Oh shoot, I haven’t putted well today. I’ve missed a bunch from this length.’ No, …go up there and pick a spot and get up and be confident and just hit a good putt. It’s more about the process than the result … to me. I’s about the process of going through what you’re seeing and hitting good putts. Once you hit the putt there’s nothing you can do after that, it’s out of my control. If I do everything well that I can control, I’ll be in good hands.”

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