Connect with us

19th Hole

Tiger Woods addresses cart concerns ahead of Open Championship

Published

on

At the JP McManus Pro-Am in Ireland this week, Tiger Woods revealed that his body wasn’t physically ready to play in this year’s U.S. Open. However, the fifteen-time major champion said that he is ready to tee it up at St. Andrews for the 150th Open Championship.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger since the PGA, that’s for sure,” Woods told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s second round of the two-day JP McManus Pro-Am in Limerick, Ireland. “I’ve been able to put in a lot more reps which is great.’’

Woods primarily rode in a cart during the two-day event hoping to save his body the wear and tear ahead of his start at St. Andrews next week.

“I still prefer riding in a cart,’’ Woods said. “I’m doing that here only because I don’t need to push it right now. I’ve got a long week ahead of me and all of next week to do that. Save the legs. We can still train as hard as we do each and every day.

“As far as duration on my feet, let’s try and keep that to a minimum until we have to. And then when we have to, let’s go.”

Tiger’s comments indicate that playing the Open Championship was always his primary concern for this season. It’s reasonable to assume that he viewed St. Andrews as the major in 2022 where he was most likely to win a major. He’s won the Claret Jug at The Old Course twice in his career in 2000 and 2005, and the layout is flatter that the other major venues of 2022 which should be better for his injured leg.

“The plan was to play the U.S. Open,” Woods said. “But physically I was not able to do that. No way physically I could have done that. I had some issues physically with my leg and it would have put this tournament (The Open) in jeopardy. There’s no reason to do that.’’

Woods was asked by an on-course reporter during second round Tuesday, “How’s the body?’’

“Still attached,’’ he joked.

Woods is sticking around Europe to prepare for The Open Championship but did not reveal exactly where he’d be playing.

“I’m not going to tell you,”He joked, “because I don’t want everyone coming out to watch us.”

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 103
  • LEGIT10
  • WOW12
  • LOL9
  • IDHT6
  • FLOP3
  • OB3
  • SHANK17

19th Hole

Brooks Koepka was asked if a 59 was possible at this year’s Masters. His answer did not disappoint

Published

on

During Brooks Koepka’s pre-tournament press conference for this week’s Masters Tournament, the five-time major champion was asked a bit of a silly question and gave a brilliant response.

Q. It sounds like the course is already pretty dialed this week, but under softer or optimal scoring conditions do you think 59 is obtainable on this golf course?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Have you played here?

Q. Not yet.

BROOKS KOEPKA: I can tell by the question.

Q. What number is attainable in your mind? 63’s the low.

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, now, anything’s attainable. But, yeah, if you want to go play the members tees and maybe play like 15 holes, yeah, I could do that.

With the course record being 63, it’s somewhat unclear why the reporter thought a soft golf course would be enough to result in a score four shots better than the record.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 2
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL1
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK1

Continue Reading

19th Hole

Viktor Hovland reveals surprise swing coach changeup ahead of 2024 Masters

Published

on

In what’s already been a dysfunctional season, Viktor Hovland is making another swing coach change.

While speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, for The Masters, the reigning Tour champion spoke openly about the struggles he’s been having with his swing.

Earlier this year, Hovland parted ways with his short game coach, Joe Mayo, after Mayo had help him make significant strides around the greens. He then announced his new swing coach would be Grant Waite.

However, at the press conference, a new swing coach, Dana Dahlquist, was alongside the Norwegian.

“I’m still kind of looking for some opinions out there, but I feel like I’m on a good track right now and we’ll see where that takes us. It’s one of those things. I was playing great golf last year, but it’s not like I’m trying to change my golf swing.”

Hovland then spoke about the change to Dahlquist.

“I liked what he thought was the best strategy to get back to a lot of that movement from that time. I thought it made a lot of sense, and so we’ve been working together a bit now. Then we’ll see how it goes.”

The 26-year-old added that he didn’t feel his game was sustainable after his magnificent run during the FedEx Cup playoffs.

“I had to find my way back to where I think I’m going to play my best golf. Even at the end of the last year, I still felt like, yeah, I was playing great, but I got a lot out of my game, and it didn’t necessarily feel sustainable. But it’s not like I consciously went in and said, hey, we’re going to change everything up.”

“There has been a bit too much back-and-forth. It has been difficult to see the way forward, what exactly is the answer, and what exactly I need to do. I feel that now I’ve decided that ‘this is right, this works.’ I have to get on with it. Then we’ll see how it goes. I feel things are going in the right direction, but it has been more difficult than we would have liked.”

Coming into the season, Hovland was one of the favorites to win The Masters. As the tournament approaches, it feels as if the young star has more questions than answers.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

19th Hole

‘Everybody’s exchanging information all day long’ – Brooks Koepka addresses rules controversy from the 2023 Masters

Published

on

One of the biggest stories of the 2023 Masters was when Brooks Koepka and his caddie, Ricky Elliot, were accused of letting Koepka’s playing partner, Gary Woodland, know which club he was hitting on the Par-5 15th.

The rules committee eventually decided that night that no rules were broken.

Koepka was asked about the situation once again on Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference for the 2024 Masters.

“I mean, everybody’s exchanging information all day long,” he said. “Looking in guys’ bags, caddies are signaling all day long.”

“But who knew? I think I was just foreshadowing what was going to happen.”

Koepka went on to win the PGA Championship the following month, so his foreshadowing was alluding to his capturing the 5th major.

The five-time major champion went on to talk about why he performs so well in the biggest events.

“If you can’t get up for the biggest events, I think there’s something wrong with you.”

“It’s what I always dreamed of when I was a kid. When I was practicing at my dad’s course when I was younger it was always to win a major championship.”

“Even today, that’s what I first see, that’s what I think you’re judged by, your legacy, what you’re defined by. I can tell you exactly how many Jack, Tiger, Arnold, Tom, all these guys, how many majors they won. It’s tough to tell how many events they won, but I know that there’s one sure-fire way to figure out who is who is by major championships.”

If Koepka manages to win a green jacket, he will be a claret jug away from the career grand slam.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK1

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending