Woods' schedule on hold till Open; Wants another look at Oakmont soon
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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods said he is not sure if he will play again before the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. But he does know he will return to Oakmont for another look at the course before the tournament begins the week of June 11.
"When I played it, they had snow the week before and the rough wasn't quite up yet," Woods said yesterday after shooting a final-round 67 in The Players Championship. "The greens were bumpy and slow. Hopefully, when I get there it will be different."
Woods, the world's No. 1 player, played three rounds at Oakmont April 22-23 when the course was soft and the greens were slow. He wants to go back to spend more time on the greens -- something he didn't do during his previous visit because the surfaces weren't in tournament condition.
But, since Woods' visit, Oakmont's greens have rounded into shape and have recaptured their speed and smoothness. Also, after a dry week with ideal temperatures, the fairways have started to firm and the rough has thickened.
"I will definitely take another look at it," Woods said.
Other players who have said they will come in early to get a look at Oakmont are Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III.
Woods will need to get some work on fast greens after he struggled to find his putting speed at the Players Stadium Course, where he finished at even-par 288. Woods said he could never get the line on the greens because the new surfaces were rolling slower than he anticipated.
He became frustrated after he shot 73 in the third round because he had eight putts spin out of the hole. After the round, Woods bypassed reporters, something he usually doesn't do.
"I was just tired of hitting good putts and having them all lip out because I didn't feel like I was playing that poorly," Woods said. "I was just tired of it. Good putts weren't going in, and the putts that I thought I hit perfect, I'd take a step and it would lip out. I was just really frustrated with it."
Tiger Woods talks about his last visit to Oakmont.
First Published May 13, 2007 10:50 pm
