ST. LOUIS — There were unsubstantiated rumors floating around Monday that Tiger Woods was on the Bellerive Country Club practice range beating golf balls at 6 a.m. A local TV station even went with the story despite having no video footage or confirmation.
As it turned out, the rumors were exactly that.
Woods, after finishing the WGC-Bridgestone in Ohio on Sunday flew to St. Louis afterward and took Monday to chill out for a day — without hitting a golf ball.
“I needed that day off,’’ Woods said Tuesday. “I spent a few times in the ice bath just trying to get some inflammation down and just trying to get ready for the rest of the week. I did a lot of stretching and did a light lift as well and was ready to go [Tuesday].’’
Unfortunately for Woods, Tuesday’s weather didn’t cooperate, twice interrupting practice-round play for the PGA Championship, and Woods only got a handful of holes in, leaving him to do more homework on Wednesday than he’d prefer for a major championship.
“It’s just a matter of how much I’m going to get in [Wednesday],’’ Woods said. “I know that [the course] is going to be pretty packed. I think that all the guys are trying to get in as much practice they possibly can because [Tuesday] was negated a little bit and most of the guys who played last week took [Monday] off.
“So there’s going to be quite a few guys trying to get out there to play, and I’m going to be one of them. Try and get as many holes as I possibly can, but also make sure that I’m ready for an a.m. start on Thursday.’’
When Woods, who’s had four back surgeries, was asked how many ice baths he took and where he was experiencing inflammation, he said coyly, “Three. And everywhere. Anything else?’’
Asked if he was “guarding’’ against re-injuring himself by doing too much, Woods said, “It’s just there’s going to be certain days that I’m just not going to have the speed and the flexibility and the movement that I once did.
“I’m 42 now, and I’ve had four back surgeries. So things are going to be different from day to day, and it’s just about managing it. I didn’t really have any of those issues when I was early in my career because I didn’t have a fixed point in my back. My knee used to hurt a lot, but I could play around that. Playing around my spine’s a little bit different.’’
One of the things Woods is trying to accomplish this week, aside from winning for the first time since 2013 and winning his first major since 2008, is assure himself of a spot on the Ryder Cup team. He’s 20th on the Ryder Cup points list and needs to get into the top eight to secure a spot without having to be one of the four captain’s picks.
When Woods was asked, if he were US captain Jim Furyk and he had to make a pick now whether he would pick himself, Woods said, “I don’t know, we’ll see. I’ve gone from zero to basically 20th in seven months. As I said last week, I’m trending. So that’s all I’m going to say.’’
Earlier, European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn said he believe Woods, even at his current state, is “intimidating’’ to play against in match play.
When Woods was told of Bjorn’s comments and asked if he believes that, he said with a smile, “I like my chances in match play.’’
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