Tiger Woods experiences a debacle on the third day of the PGA Championship 2022. The 46-year-old was unable to get his game under control. He too often left approaches far too short, and on the front nine alone his ball went bad twice. On top of that, Woods played one too flat from the sand on the nine and hammered it into the edge of the bunker – next drop, in this case penalty-free.
Things didn’t get any better on the back nine. With three bogeys in a row, Woods made his way back towards the clubhouse. There was no sign of the Woods who had fought his way into the cut on Friday with a strong performance. With only 15 degrees, rain and wind, the 15-time major winner was visibly suffering. The cold is a major problem for Woods, who has undergone several operations. His right leg, which was almost completely shattered in his car accident a year ago, was visibly dragging. Time and again he used his driver or irons on the fairway as a walking aid. Already at the US Masters, Woods slumped after two strong first rounds at the weekend in much cooler weather.
At least Woods’ game stabilised on the second half of the back nine and he escaped the ignominy of playing an 80 by one stroke. Nevertheless, the 79 catapulted him to penultimate place. Only Sepp Straka of Austria fared worse. Following the round, Woods said he would now focus on his recovery. “We’ll work on that and then we’ll see.” On the final day of the 2022 PGA Championship, he would have to take to the course in one of the first groups due to his overall score of twelve over par. As he needs a lot of time for preparation and follow-up due to his physical condition, it is open whether he will play the final round.