But not too much context, for then you execute the risk of ignoring the facts.
Sometimes the stats, unfortunately, tell most of the story.
He has finished 72 holes just twice.
There have now been three withdrawals.
He pulled out of the 2022 PGA Championship after making the cut on the number.
The first thought that came to mind was the back.
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.
I just haven’t done it in a while."
So that’s the background to the WD.
You just assumed it was the back.
Woods was sick with flu-like symptoms and was rushed into the Riviera clubhouse.
That’s when things turned bizarre.
There were two-dozen plus media members outside waiting to get a glimpse of Woodsperhaps in a stretcher?
It’s the closest I’ve felt to a TMZ reporter or Jake Gyllenhaal inNightcrawler.
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.
But those were perfect weather conditions on a dead-flat course in an unofficial event.
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.
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.
It’s a short drive from his house.
He’d be able to sleep in his own bed.
Just food for though.
That’s the guiding principle behind these signature events, with their limited fields and $20 million purses.
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.
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.
He signed for a 3 when he actually made a 4 on the par-3 4th hole.
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.
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.
That didn’t happen with the Spieth situation.
His fellow players didn’t seem too pumped to not have him around.
Side note: what the hell was in the water/food/air at Riviera this week?
New week, same story for Scheffler
It’s getting absurd at this point.
The putting, not so much.
51st out of 51.
It’s his 18th top-10 finish in his last 24 starts which is truly a remarkable run of consistency.
But you could’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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Champions Tour’s also in Africa for the Trophy Hassan II.
And so Stephen Ames won the tournament and its $270,000 first-place check despite playing just 36 holes.
The Champions Tour remains a big ol' mystery.
Until next week,
Dan
