Go ahead, try to make the argument that golfers aren’t athletes after watching Brooks Koepka muscle his way to a second consecutive U.S. Open victory.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods got off to a bad start but averted disaster. After making four bogeys in his first five holes Friday, the five-time Masters champion steadied himself to sign for a 74 and is nine off the lead, tied for 19th place going into the weekend. “Well, it was windy,” Woods said. “It was swirling. Balls were oscillating on the greens. We got a couple of bad gusts. I hit a couple of bad shots. I hit a decent shot at 4 that ended up down in a divot, and it was just like – there were so many things that were not going my way. “It was partly the conditions,” he added, “and partly me.” Woods, 46, is making his first official PGA TOUR start in a year and a half, since his career was slowed by a fifth back surgery and nearly ended by a single-car accident in Los Angeles. He said surgeons contemplated amputating his right leg, which is a constant source of pain. Although he has walked with a limp at Augusta National, he’s still here. He easily made the cut for the 22nd straight time, which is one shy of the record held by Fred Couples and Gary Player. “It was a good fight,” Woods said. “I got back in the ball game.” And with a fused back and a weakened right leg, no less. After stumbling out of the gate, he told his caddie, Joe LaCava, that the goal was to get back to even par for the round. Woods had a chance after hitting a series of more characteristic shots, none better than his approach to kick-in range at the par-4 10th hole. But he failed to get up and down at the 15th hole and missed another birdie attempt from roughly 12 feet at the 16th. Still, the way he looked at it, he was just four shots out of second place. He also noted his excitement for the forecast Saturday – cold, windy – which could shake up the leaderboard. “I haven’t played a lot of tournaments of late,” Woods said, “so it’s been a little bit rusty, but I’m starting to come around. I felt good about how I fought back today and got myself – I could have easily kicked myself out of the tournament today, but I kept myself in it.” Joaquin Niemann (74, 1 under total), who played with Woods for the first two days, was impressed. “I think today, he hit it way better than yesterday,” Niemann said. “He looked great – amazing tee shots, some amazing iron shots. On 10 today, he was amazing. So, yeah, he’s still got it.”
ATLANTA - This has been a life-changing week for Rory McIlroy. It could be a historic one, as well. McIlroy and his wife, Erica, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Poppy, into the world Monday. With wife and baby safely at home, a rejuvenated McIlroy was able to find his form in time for the first round of the TOUR Championship. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Season unlike any other comes to thrilling finish at East Lake "Golf was the furthest thing from my mind the first few days this week," he said. "And then once we got home on Wednesday and everything was good and mom and baby were healthy, that sort of took a load off my mind, and that meant I could come here and somewhat focus on what I’m supposed to do." McIlroy is trying to become the first player to successfully defend the FedExCup and win the season-long title three times. He and Tiger Woods are the only two-time winners of the FedExCup. McIlroy started this week seven strokes behind FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson. His 64 matched the low round of the day, however, and allowed him to pick up three shots on the lead. McIlroy will start Saturday in fourth place, four shots behind Johnson and Jon Rahm. McIlroy started this season with six consecutive top 5s, including a win at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, but the 2019 FedExCup champion has struggled since the season resumed. His best finish in eight starts since the Return to Golf is T11. In his last five events, he's a combined 2 over par and has just one finish better than 30th (a T12 at last week's BMW Championship). He admits it has been hard to focus without fans on-site and his pregnant wife at home. His caddie, Harry Diamond, carried a phone on the course and McIlroy was prepared to leave immediately if Erica went into labor. He doesn't have to worry about that anymore. Many players say fatherhood helps their game because it changes their perspective, and McIlroy is no exception. He didn't touch a club this week until arriving at East Lake on Thursday. "Golf was sort of the furthest thing from my mind, and sometimes that’s a good thing just to decompress and get away from it," he said. McIlroy birdied his first hole Friday, hitting a 331-yard tee shot on the uphill first hole and knocking his 137-yard approach to 7 feet. He shot 30 on the back nine, including birdies on his final three holes. He birdied the par-5 18th after hitting a 366-yard tee shot through the fairway. It was reminiscent of his drive in the playoff here four years ago, which McIlroy won to earn his first FedExCup. Today was McIlroy's 25th round at East Lake. He matched his career-low score at the annual site of the TOUR Championship. He shot a final-round 64 in 2016, when he holed out on the 16th hole and then won a playoff with Ryan Moore and Kevin Chappell. Just like today, Johnson was the FedExCup leader and atop the TOUR Championship leaderboard on that fateful day four years ago. He shot a final-round 73, though, and lost his best chance to win the FedExCup. Thursday's 64 was McIlroy's best round since a first-round 63 at the Travelers Championship in late June. He hit 14 greens Friday, including every one on the back nine, and holed two putts apiece from 10-15 feet and 15-20 feet. "Whether I don’t feel like my game is in a good place or I’m not the favorite coming into a tournament, all that stuff, I feel like that’s when I usually play my best and I can play with a bit of freedom, and that’s what I did today," he said.
Both men finished one stroke ahead of nine players, including overnight leader Collin Morikawa, and benefited from going out before conditions in Honolulu deteriorated further in the afternoon. Of the pair, American Steele had the more adventurous trip around the Waialae Country Club. After a slow
