The Pin Sheet – Volume 45 – July 3, 2014

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN GOLF Tiger Misses Cut But Passes Physical in Final Tune-Up for British Open When asked prior to the start of last week’s Quicken Loans National tournament what his expectations were for his PGA TOUR return, didn’t back down. “Expectations don’t change,” said Woods, the winner of 79 TOUR events in his career, second all-time. “[Winning], that’s the ultimate goal.”

Yet after missing the 36-hole cut for only the tenth time in 300 career TOUR starts, and first time in two years, even Woods had to admit that shooting 74-75 never felt so good. While falling short of calling it a victory, Woods said that his first competitive 36 holes since undergoing microdiscectomy surgery to repair a pinched nerve in his back on March 31st couldn’t have gone any better. Woods was able to hit driver “full out,” at tournament speeds, and shape the ball with ease. About the only thing he couldn’t do was get the ball up-and-down—he missed 16 greens over two rounds and saved just three times- -something he attributed to rust and missing his approach shots on the wrong sides of the holes.

“I hate to say it but I'm really encouraged by what happened this week,” said Woods, who was done in by four consecutive bogeys (holes 11-14) on the back nine at Congressional CC during the second round. “I missed the cut by four shots. That's a lot. But the fact that what I was able to do physically and the speed I had and distance that I was hitting the golf ball again, I had not done that in a very long time.”

Woods got off to a very poor start in the first round. Starting on the back nine, he bogeyed the first two holes and seven of his first 12, before righting the ship with birdies on three of his final six holes. Consecutive birdies on holes 9 and 10 had him one shot off the cut line midway through the second round, before Woods shot himself out of the tournament with the four bogeys. For the two rounds, he averaged 301 yards per drive but hit only 57% of his fairways and 55.6% of his greens in regulation.

The last time Woods missed the 36-hole cut was at the 2012 , although he did shoot even par. He missed the 54-hole cut in the earlier this season before his back surgery, shooting a third-round 79. In four PGA TOUR starts this season, Woods has missed a 36-hole cut, a 54-hole cut, withdrawn due to back spasms (), and finished T-25th.

Woods’ camp expected the 14-time major champion to make his return at the Open Championship later this month (July 17-20), but he beat that timetable by three weeks. During his pre-tournament press conference, Woods offered a little insight into his three-month recovery, which he referred to as a “tedious little process.” He was able to putt almost immediately following the surgery, but his doctors didn’t want him bending over, so he filled the holes on his practice green with sand. After putting for several weeks he gradually progressed into chipping, pitching, and then his short irons, increasing his range of motion in small increments (10 yards every day or two). It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that he began hitting drivers—although at less than tournament speed—and playing golf, often standing up on the back of a cart instead of sitting down to alleviate the pressure on his back. Woods also underwent daily soft tissue treatments, took cold baths, and followed a strict anti-inflammatory diet.

Although many people questioned the timing of Woods’ return, suggesting that it may be too soon, Woods said that he was able to return ahead of schedule because of how good of shape he kept himself in—particularly in terms of his core and glute strength. Whether he’ll be able to shake off the rust and the little mistakes that plagued him at Congressional in time to contend for his fourth Claret Jug in two weeks remains to be seen. The last time the Open Championship was held at Royal Liverpool in 2006, Woods road his patented 2-iron stinger to a two-shot victory, shooting 18 under overall for his second consecutive Open title. Woods hit driver only one time (in the first round), hitting mostly 2-irons and 3- woods and torching the baked-out fairways at Hoylake.

This year, the conditions at Royal Liverpool are purportedly more lush than they were in 2006, which will put a bigger premium on driving accuracy. Woods’ schedule for the next two weeks does not include any tournament golf—he plans to take his kids on vacation this week before beginning preparations for the Open the following week. If he were to win, he’ll have to do so with only 36 holes of competitive golf behind him in the last three-plus months.

That doesn’t mean his expectations have changed at all, however.

“I got my feel for playing tournament golf [again],” said Woods following his final round at Congressional. “I made a ton of simple little mistakes, misjudging things and missing the ball on the wrong sides , and just didn't get up-and-down on simple, little shots. Those are the little things I can correct, which is nice.”

Coming Up Rose-s! Justin Grits Out Win at Congressional It was three years too late, but Congressional Country Club played every bit like a U.S. Open course this time around, and no player was happier to see that than . The 2013 U.S. Open champion at Merion, Rose always seems to play his best golf when the conditions are most demanding. And this year’s Quicken Loans National was just that.

On a day in which the course played nearly three strokes over par, Rose was just one of six players to break par, firing a 1-under-par 70. That was good enough to earn a sudden-death playoff with Shawn Stefani (70), which Rose would go onto win when Stefani hit his 6-iron approach from the trees into the water on the first hole of sudden death. Ironically, Rose did the very same thing on the par-4 18th about an hour earlier, trying to punch his approach through two trees left of the fairway. Like Stefani, he overcooked it into the water left of the peninsula green, and had to make a testy 15-footer just to save bogey and force a playoff. Rose also saved par with an 8-foot putt on the par-4 17th.

Rose’s winning score was 4-under 280, a stark contrast to 2011 when Rory McIlroy took advantage of soft conditions at Congressional to shoot the lowest 72-hole score in U.S. Open history (16-under 268). Ten players shot 4 under or better in that U.S. Open, and 20 players broke par, compared to 10 at the Quicken Loans. It was also just the second time this year that the winning score was higher than the actual 36-hole leading score (-6). The other time that happened was at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. The victory was Rose’s sixth on the PGA TOUR, and nearly all of them have come at top- line venues—Merion, Congressional, Aronimink, Cog Hill, Muirfield Village, and Doral Resort & Spa.

Stefani, who was seeking his first TOUR win, nearly had it but narrowly missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to join Rose in the playoff. Despite the runner-up finish, Stefani earned one of four spots into the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool later this month. Joining him will be Ben Martin, Charley Hoffman, and . All four players can thank the new Open Qualifying Series, which takes the four top finishers among the top 12 at the Quicken Loans who are not otherwise exempt for the major. The Series continues this week at Classic, with four more spots available.

TPC Harding Park to Host 2015 Match Play, 2020 PGA Championship It was quite a week for TPC Harding Park! First came word that the public course would host the 2020 PGA Championship; then came the news that it would be the host site for next year’s WGC-Match Play Championship. The event, which has yet to name a sponsor, is also scheduled to move to the last week of April and adopt a new format similar to the World Cup in soccer. The field of 64 players will be divided into groups, with each participant playing three matches in round-robin group play. The winner of each group will then advance to single-elimination play, or what the World Cup refers to as the knockout stages. This format ensures that the marquee names in the field will stick around for at least three days, eliminating the one-and-dones that have plagued the tournament in the past. The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, AZ, not a stranger to snow in the month of February, has hosted the Match Play for the past eight seasons.

In addition to the 2020 PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park is also slated to host its second in 2025. It previously held the event in 2009. Harding Park also hosted the Charles Schwab Cup on the Champions Tour in 2010, 2011, and 2013, and a WGC event (the American Express Championship) in 2005. The 2020 PGA Championship will be making its first appearance out west since 1998, when it was at Sahalee just outside of . TPC Harding Park is the only city-owned public course managed by the PGA TOUR. Situated along the shores of Lake Merced in San Francisco, the back nine offers views of the neighboring Olympic Club, host of five U.S. Open championships—most recently in 2012.

Langer Snaps Major Drought on the Champions Tour Bernhard Langer birdied the second hole of sudden death to defeat Jeff Sluman and capture the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship for his first major title on the 50-and-over circuit since the 2010 Senior British Open. It was the third win of the season for the 56-year-old German, who blew a four-shot lead before sinking an improbable 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole to force a playoff with Sluman. The American narrowly missed a birdie putt on the first playoff hole that would have won it, then watched as Langer hit a brilliant chip to 5 feet on the next hole to set up the clinching birdie. The playoff defeat dropped Sluman’s career mark to 1-9 in extra holes, while Langer avenged a bitter playoff loss at last year’s Senior British Open, where he coughed up a two-shot lead on the final hole of regulation and then loss on the fifth extra hole to Mark Wiebe.

Both Langer (70) and Sluman (65) finished at 15-under 265 at Fox Chapel Golf Club outside of Pittsburgh. Russ Cochran, who trailed by as many as seven shots early in the final round, fired a 67 to finish alone in third at 14 under. Kenny Perry finished in fourth place after a 69, two shots out of the playoff.