Monday Rap: Tiger WDs (Again), Spieth Gets DQ'd And Scottie's Putting Stays Ice Cold

Ronald Martinez. Getty Images.

Stats require context. But not too much context, for then you run the risk of ignoring the facts. Sometimes the stats, unfortunately, tell most of the story. This is one of them: Tiger Woods has made six official starts on the PGA Tour since his car accident in 2021. He has finished 72 holes just twice. 

There's been only one missed cut in there, at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, where he motored right over the Swilcan Bridge to squash any speculation that it might be his last Open. There have now been three withdrawals. He pulled out of the 2022 PGA Championship after making the cut on the number. He pulled out of the 2023 Masters when he woke up on a cold, rainy morning and knew he'd have to play 30 holes. And he withdrew from this past week's Genesis Invitational after splitting the fairway with, it should be noted, an extremely stiff-looking move through the ball. 

The first thought that came to mind was the back. Woods said after Thursday's one-over 72 that his back was spasming during his final few holes and pointed to that as the culprit for his cold-hard shank on the 18th hole. (He described the shank as "I presented hosel first," which immediately earns a spot among the all-time Tigerisms). Most of the Tiger/injury discourse over the last three years has centered around his right leg, the one that was crushed by the weight of an SUV. He's been peppered with questions about his walk and his ankle and his foot and his playing future, but not so much about his back. That, then, was a sobering reminder of just how brittle this man's body was even before the accident. When asked Thursday why his back spasm'd, he put it very bluntly. 

"Because my back is fused." 

Translation: This is just kind of the way it fucking is, pal. What Tiger said next painted a rather bleak picture of his golfing future. It's just really, really hard to turn up once a month (if that), play the hardest courses against the best players, have no rhythm from playing recent tournaments and still expect to compete. 

"I'm going to be rusty (every time I play) and I have to do a better job at home prepping," Woods said. "We need to do a better job with lifting and treating and continuation of rehab protocols, all those things. I just haven't done it in a while."

So that's the background to the WD. You just assumed it was the back. But then Woods' camp made a point to emphasize that it wasn't the back or anything physical at all. Woods was sick with flu-like symptoms and was rushed into the Riviera clubhouse. That's when things turned bizarre. Two firetrucks and one ambulance—which I, in the moment, called a "paramedic truck" because that's what it said on the truck and it was red and ambulances, I thought, were white—rushed to Riviera and the ambulance backed up right outside a service entrance. There were two-dozen plus media members outside waiting to get a glimpse of Woods—perhaps in a stretcher? It's the closest I've felt to a TMZ reporter or Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. After waiting outside that door for close to an hour, one of the paramedics walked in and mouthed "he's not coming out." 

Shortly thereafter, Woods' business partner Rob McNamara gave some quotes that suggested Woods received an IV bag inside the Riviera clubhouse. He left the property and promptly returned to Florida—much to the disappointment of Hideki Matsuyama, who said he was a little disappointed not to get his picture taken with the tournament host after shooting an all-time round of 62 to win. 

A buzzkill end for Woods to a week that began with significant promise. He looked good physically back in December at the Hero World Challenge. His gait looked better, he had plenty of speed and his play didn't steadily deteriorate as the week wore on. But those were perfect weather conditions on a dead-flat course in an unofficial event. This was his chance to show that, in the two months since, he's made progress in his recovery and with his game. Instead we saw him play 23 holes in two over par and then fire up the private jet. 

It's entirely possible that Woods adds another event to his schedule. If we take McNamara for his word and believe that Woods' body is fine, there's no reason he won't play at least once during the Florida Swing—and perhaps twice, if it's physically possible? Woods has maintained that he'd like to play at a roughly once-per-month cadence this year. That would make the Players Championship the next natural fit. He's won a million times at Bay Hill, site of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but that's the week before the Players Championship and back-to-back weeks is simply a no-go at this point. So what if…and stick with me here…he played in the Cognizant Classic, which is the new sponsor for the Honda? It's a short drive from his house. He'd be able to sleep in his own bed. He'd get another week off this week, play Cognizant, then have another week off before the Players? It'd be an opportunity for Woods to compete against a non-elite field, too, which he hasn't done since the accident. And it's not like Woods needs to only play signature events because he needs the FedEx Cup points or the money. Just food for though.

Hollywood brought out the stars…but sent others packing

A common talking point throughout this ongoing Battle of the Tours, at least on the PGA Tour side, has been getting the best players in the world to compete against each other more often. That's the guiding principle behind these signature events, with their limited fields and $20 million purses. The original idea was for these events to not have cuts because—staying on theme here—we want the stars competing against each other more often. But Woods pushed back against the idea of his event not having a cut, and so a compromise was reached: the three Invitational events (Riviera, Bay Hill and the Memorial) would have cuts even with the small fields. Just 19 guys missed the cut this week out of a 70-player field. Thing is, some of those 19 are the "top players" we've been talking about. 

Justin Thomas missed the cut. Wyndham Clark missed the cut. Matt Fitzpatrick missed the cut. That happens, and it's part of the beauty of a meritocratic sport; everyone starts at 0 each week. But those weren't the only guys who weren't around for the weekend. Tiger's withdrawal sucked a ton of life out of the event before the weekend even began. Then, a few hours after Tiger's withdrawal, Jordan Spieth was disqualified while in semi-contention after he signed an incorrect scorecard. He signed for a 3 when he actually made  a 4 on the par-3 4th hole. Interestingly enough, had he signed for a 4 but actually made a 3 he'd simply have to accept the higher score. But the penalty for signing for a lower scorecard is, at every level of golf, a disqualification. 

It shouldn't be the penalty at this level. The rule requiring players to keep their own scores was created long before the PGA Tour or the Internet or TourCast existed. It had a legitimate purpose at first, and it still does at tournaments where there aren't millions of dollars on the line and live scoring available. There is, however, no real pupose to it now beyond it being a quaint relic of the past. There are literal walking scorers with every group. The odds that Spieth was trying to get way with something are 0 percent. There are simply too many eyes around. There has to be a human element to the rules; some lee-way for the tournament officials to consider all context surrounding a situation and make a reasonable call. That didn't happen with the Spieth situation. His fellow players didn't seem too pumped to not have him around. Xander Schauffele, speaking after his round on Saturday, suggested a softer penalty for that infraction and gave some insight into what exactly went down after the round. 

Side note: what the hell was in the water/food/air at Riviera this week? Tiger's sick. Jordan's sick. And then it came out Sunday afternoon that 54-hole leader Patrick Cantlay woke up with a 100+ degree fever on Sunday morning and didn't feel right all day. 

To wrap it up: we shouldn't be disqualifying guys who aren't trying to pull a fast one when there's such an easy fix. 

New week, same story for Scheffler

It's getting absurd at this point. It's the same pattern every week: Scottie Scheffler is by far the best golfer in the world from tee-to-green. The putting, not so much. Scheffler once again led the field in strokes gained tee-to-green this week but finished dead last among players to make the cut in strokes gained putting. 51st out of 51. He looked totally and completely lost with the flat stick all week and still managed to finish inside the top 10. It's his 18th top-10 finish in his last 24 starts which is truly a remarkable run of consistency. But you can't help but wonder: what if? What if he just putted at tour average those weeks? Where would he finish? I crunched the numbers for y'all. I started the count at last year's Charles Schwab Challenge as that's when the putting stats really started to take a dive. Some rounding occurred. 

Charles Schwab Challenge — T3, WIN (lost 4.32 for week, missed playoff by 1)
Memorial Tournament — 3rd, WIN (lost 8.00 for week, missed playoff by 1)
U.S. Open — 3rd, 4th (gained 1.36 for week)
Travelers Championship — T4, T6 (gained 0.7 for week)
Genesis Scottish Open — T3, 3rd (lost 1.84 for week, was 4 back of 2nd)
Open Championship — T23, T10 (lost 3.92 for week)
FedEx St. Jude Championship — T31, T20 (lost 2.2 for week)
BMW Championship — T2, 2nd (lost .88 for week, finished 2 back)
Tour Championship — T21, T13 (lost 4.56 for week)
The Sentry — T5, T3 (lost 1.8 for week)
The American Express — T17, T11 (lost 2.12 for week)
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — T6, T14 (gained 2.52 for week)
WM Phoenix Open — T3, T4 (gained .64 for week)
Genesis Invitational — T10, T7 (lost 3.56 for week)

He'd have two more wins than he does now had he been putting average, but the "he'd win ever week" narrative doesn't really hold up to the numbers. 

Still, it has to be an insanely frustrating way to play golf. He's doing all the right things. He's brought in outside help in putting guru Phil Kenyon. He's spending a bunch of time on the practice green. But he's just not seeing results right now. I'm sure he'll be very, very happy to get off Poa annua greens and hope that a return to Bermuda does the trick. 

Elsewhere

—If you want to read more about Hideki's win, I got you here.

—Hard not to root for Will Zalatoris, who's looking increasingly impressive after returning from back surgery. His switch to the long putter seems to finally be paying off as he rolled it beautifully all week. After Sunday's round he revealed that he'd been playing with a heavy heart after the death of a family member on Thursday. He's just a really easy guy to root for. 

—LIV player David Puig won an Asian Tour event this year to get a spot into the Open Championship. He's one of the younger guys who eschewed trying to get a PGA Tour card in lieu of signing with LIV straight out of college. 

—The PGA Tour moves south to Mexico this week for the Mexico Open at Vidanta. 

—The Korn Ferry Tour rolls on in South America. This week they're in Chile. 

—The DP World Tour moves to Africa this week for the best-named tournament in the world: the Magical Kenya Open. 

—The Champions Tour's also in Africa for the Trophy Hassan II. This just a week after the final round was initially scheduled to be shortened to 9 holes, only for it to be eventually cancelled altogether. And so Stephen Ames won the tournament and its $270,000 first-place check despite playing just 36 holes. This video the Champions Tour posted, of all the guys getting on a plane to Africa, looks like the beginning of a comedy movie. The Champions Tour remains a big ol' mystery. 

Until next week,

Dan