What comes next for Tiger Woods, nobody knows — not even his caddie

HOUSTON – LPGA pro Danielle Kang had some choice words for her boyfriend, PGA TOUR rookie Maverick McNealy, after he shot a third-round 73 on Saturday at the Houston Open. Or as McNealy described it, “Got a talking-to yesterday on the phone.� But Kang – who has two wins and 30 top 10s in her LPGA career and recently played in her second Solheim Cup for the U.S. – also provided some advice for McNealy to use during Sunday’s final round at the Golf Club of Houston. The message was received loud and clear. McNealy went out Sunday and shot a 7-under 65 that included a stretch of five consecutive birdies. In his fifth tournament this season, he finished at 8 under for the week and is headed for his best finish, potentially inside the top 20 once the final leaderboard shakes out. Related: Leaderboard | Time for Griffin to turn consistency into victory | Wu in contention in first TOUR start as a pro Evidently, Danielle knows what she’s talking about. “My best round on TOUR,� McNealy said. “I can build on this.� So what exactly did Kang tell McNealy, who started the week nicely with a 68 before sliding down the leaderboard with middle rounds of 74 and 73? “She wanted me to do three things today,� said McNealy, who then provided the specifics. 1. Don’t look at the leaderboards. “So I intentionally did not look at a single leaderboard today,� McNealy said, a difficult task on the back nine given his big move that at one point had him inside the top 10. 2. Be stronger and stricter with the mental scorecards. “I did that with my 95% of my shots today,� McNealy said. “I only had two shots that I wasn’t fully focused or in the zone or committed on, so I was really happy with that. If I can keep it to two or less, it’s going to be a good day.� 3. Say two good things to himself after every shot. “So it was a very positive day out there for me,� McNealy said. Consider his best shot of the round, a tee shot at the par-3 165-yard 16th. McNealy arrived on the tee with plenty of momentum, having reeled off four consecutive birdies. But the 16th had not been kind to him, as he bogeyed it the previous two rounds, including the second round when he found the right-side bunker. Plus, with a bit of wind in his face, he was between clubs. He knew 9-iron wasn’t enough, so he needed to hit a soft-cut 8-iron. “It’s just a shot I’ve been struggling with,� McNealy said. “I hit some poor shots there earlier this week and it was an awkward number.� But with his positive vibes, he pulled off the shot Sunday, following it by converting the birdie putt from just outside 10 feet to make it five straight birdies. The two positive things he told himself after the tee shot? “That I really committed to starting it left and hitting a hold-off cut,� McNealy said, “and that I hit it flush in the center of the face.� Kang wasn’t the only one who’s giving advice to McNealy, who earned TOUR membership via the Korn Ferry Tour last season. McNealy is working with Kang’s coach, Butch Harmon, who is being honored by the Houston Open this week. For the last two weeks, they’ve been working on flighting the short irons. On Sunday, Harmon and McNealy were both sporting huge smiles outside the scorer’s trailer. “That was the most important part of my game this week,� McNealy said. “Really, really happy with how we stuck with it. He’s really helped me build up my confidence.� But now it’s time for McNealy to rest. He’s played tournaments in 17 of the last 21 weeks, and he’s tired. He’ll take the next two weeks off, then play the new Bermuda Championship and the fall-ending The RSM Classic. His number is not good enough to get into the Mayakoba Golf Classic, but he’d definitely accept a sponsor exemption. Still, he’s excited for the future, as his results have improved in each of his five weeks this season. “I’m really excited about the way I’m trending,� he said.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. - Tiger Woods hasn't won or contended in over a year, his brittle back is a day-to-day proposition, and he'll turn 45 next month. He has looked old or human, take your pick. But in a PGA TOUR season that has already featured three 40-something winners (Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, Brian Gay), Thursday reminded us nothing rolls back the odometer like the Masters and Augusta National. After rain pushed back tee times three hours, five-time champion Woods, in a title defense that has been 19 months in the making, shot a no-drama, 4-under 68. RELATED: Leaderboard | Remembering the final round of the 2019 Masters "Yeah, I did everything well," Woods said after his first-ever bogey-free opening round here. "I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well. The only real bad shot I hit today was I think 8. I had a perfect number with a 60-degree sand wedge and I hit it on the wrong shelf." He made par on the hole. It was Woods' first bogey-free effort in his last 106 rounds in the majors, and first at Augusta National since 2008. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens. "The only thing I could say is I wish I could have made a couple more putts," Woods said after taking 30 strokes on the greens. "I missed everything on the high side. Putts just aren’t moving." The added Bermuda grass in November, plus the rain, accounted for that. England's Paul Casey, 43, shot a 7-under 65 to lead the tournament. He was about to start his round when play was called on account of rain, and after a nearly three-hour delay, he played all 18 holes in postcard-perfect conditions. "That was a very good break," Casey said. Fellow Brit Lee Westwood, 47, who hadn't played here since 2017 and got in via his T4 at The Open Championship last year, made an adventurous par on 18 to sign for a 4-under 68. He's of an age, he has said, when nobody expects much from him. It's freeing. Oh, and Augusta's own Larry Mize, 62, was briefly on the leaderboard. He made six birdies and shot 70. "Experience counts a lot around here," Westwood, who has six top-10s in 18 starts here, said earlier this week. "There is definitely a knack for playing this golf course, and it’s a knack that you learn only really by playing the tournament here." The high-water mark for oldies at Augusta may forever be Jack Nicklaus winning at age 46 in 1986, but he also contended deep into the back nine in 1998, at 58. It was like an old film reel suddenly colorized and in real time. Woods mentioned that day earlier this week; if he uses Nicklaus as any kind of guide it would give him another 15 years or so to potentially win a sixth or even seventh Masters. "My body is feeling better than I did last year," he said. He proved it in the first round, when he started on the back nine and showed total command early. He'd never started the tournament on the 10th hole, nor had he ever heard a drone flying overhead, as he did absent the buzz from the patrons Thursday. "I got off to a fast start today, which is good, but I think everyone is," said Woods, who with one more victory would set the all-time wins record on TOUR with 83. "Everyone is going low out there today. With these conditions, you have to. You have to be aggressive. "There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags." And no reason why those who have contended in the past can't keep right on going. It's always age before beauty at Augusta National.

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Jason Day carded five birdies on his last 10 holes at Quail Hollow and is in position for his second victory of 2018.

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