Unsure of his status for the PGA Championship this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, Tiger Woods asked the PGA of America for an extension to register for this week's event because he was undergoing treatment on his back. His request was granted and Woods arrived at Valhalla on Wednesday.
Woods withdrew from last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational during the final round due to back spasms. In his second event since undergoing back surgery, the former No. 1 golfer in the world was unable to finish after posting a 68, 71 and 72 in the first three rounds. The previous week at the British Open, Woods finished 69th and 23 shots out of the lead, which was his worst 72-hole result in a major. He looks to rebound this week as the PGA is giving him until 8:35 a.m. on Thursday to register for the year's final major.
According to reports, Woods arrived at Valhalla Golf Club at 1:16 p.m. on Wednesday and hit balls for 35 minutes before playing in today's practice round with Davis Love III, Steve Stricker and Harris English. He also met with his swing coach, Sean Foley, just prior to the practice round. If all goes well after today, Woods will join Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington in the first group that will kick off the PGA Championship tomorrow morning.
A source close to The Man, tells me there was absolutely no pain during the warmup. Tiger's warmup that is, not the sources.
— GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) August 6, 2014
Woods has remained optimistic ever since his lackluster performance at the British Open and hopes to continue moving forward following his back surgery on March 31 that repaired a pinched nerve. Woods has won the PGA Championship four times, so this week is no different for him. However, it is the year's final major event and he'll need to show major improvement to boost his consideration for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
"The fact I was able to play a few weeks ahead of time, and I'm only getting stronger and faster, is great," said Woods, in this USA Today article. " ... I wanted to see where my game was at when I played at Congressional. And the fact that I was able to hit the ball that hard was encouraging. I was able to recover every day. I'm still building. I'm still working on my game."
You can read more about Tiger Woods' arrival at Valhalla Golf Club in this ESPN article.
