‘It was ugly and it’s going to get a lot tougher’ – Tiger Woods happy to show spirit in Japan

News

Michael Graham
October 25, 2019

Tiger Woods says he was happy to be able to turn around an ‘ugly’ start at the Zozo Championship in Japan as he headed into the second round with the lead.

Woods bogeyed all three of his opening holes at the Narashino Country Club, but he showed his class by birdying a further nine to finish on 64, one stroke ahead of US Open champion Gary Woodland.

“It was ugly early and it was nice to be able to flip it and really get it going,” Woods said.

“It’s always nice to get off to a quick start and then figure it out from there, but that start I got off to wasn’t very good.

“I hit bad shot after bad shot after bad shot and then a three-wiggle (three-putt) at 12 and next thing you knew things aren’t looking very good.

“After the start, the ball-striking was better, the putting was really good.

“It was one of the stranger rounds I’ve experienced in a while. It seems like every putt I made, other than the one at seven, was left to right. It was crazy.”

The second round was delayed to Saturday due to an incoming storm, bringing with is torrential rain, and Woods says he is expecting a tough fight over the weekend.

“It’s going to be sloppy and tough for us, and it’s going to be a grind on the weekend,” the 43-year-old added.

“It’s going to be a lot of golf on the weekend for all of us and probably be close to 54 holes or so for some of the guys on the weekend.

“It will be a long couple of days for us.”