ROUND 2
By Pete McDaniel
Freelance Writer
(March 15, 2019)
Ponte Vedra, Fl.—As mistakes go, Tiger Woods’ double-barreled shot in the foot in the second round of The Players Championship on Friday was somewhere between Chris Webber’s timeout that the Fab Five didn’t have (sorry, I couldn’t resist it being March Madness and all) and the Titanic.
Starting on the back nine, Woods had methodically climbed back into contention thanks to three birdies and a clean card through seven holes. He stood at five-under on No. 17 tee, the signature hole at the TPC at Sawgrass and the one with the island green that every year claims more victims than any other blue lagoon on tour.
(Photo: The Players Championship via Facebook)
Woods launched a pitching wedge long and left of the flagstick on the par-3, and the ball bounced into the water. His first attempt from the drop area also rolled into the water. He finally got one to stay on the green with his fifth shot. Two putts later he walked off the green after recording a quadruple-bogey 7 that erased all the good he had achieved to that point.
Woods said he wasn’t surprised by the results on 17.
“Well, the second shot, not really,’’ he said. “I hit it too fat. But the first one I was a bit surprised it went that far. I took something off that wedge and it flew a lot further than I thought.’’
The quad is Woods’ highest score on the 17th. He has also recorded four double bogeys on the hole, including one in the final round last year.
Woods was able to maintain his composure during the remainder of his round and collected a pair of birdies to salvage a one-under 71. At three-under 141, he trailed Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk by six strokes with the afternoon wave early into their rounds.
He believes with the lead at nine-under when he finished his round that he’s still in the mix.
“Well, I was pretty ticked, no doubt about that,’’ he said. “I was bound and determined to get it all back. I thought that would have been a hell of a fight I ended up getting back to three and that was still a good fight to get to that point.
“As of right now, I’m six back, which is definitely doable on this golf course, especially with the weather coming in.’’
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ABOUT PETE McDANIEL
Pete McDaniel is a veteran golf writer and best-selling author. His blogs and books are available at petemcdaniel.com
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