‘I Still Struggle With Hitting the Putts’: Tiger Woods Opens Up on His Dismal Putting at St. Andrews

The 150th Open Championship began at St. Andrews on July 14, Thursday. Since the golfers had just played only one day, it would be tough to predict who would win the title. However, with a T146 ranking in 156 player-field, Tiger Woods will likely say goodbye to the home of golf before the tournament ends. 

The 15-time major champion struggled to get a good result from the first hole itself. Notably, Woods made many mistakes while putting that led him to make two bogeys and a double bogey in the first five holes. 

“I still have the same thing,” the Hall of Famer explained what went wrong with his putting at the Open. “I still struggle with hitting the putts hard enough.” Woods described the issues with his putting during the press meet after Round 1 at the Old Course, St. Andrews. 

Tiger Woods failed to adjust to the Old Course’s greens!

“Just because they (greens) look faster, especially when you consider that actually, the fairways are faster than the greens,” the golfer said. “It’s just a different dynamic than we were accustomed to.” 

“Pitch shots around the greens, you allow for more speed and then for them to slow up on the greens,” he added. “Which is the exact opposite of what we would normally play.” Notably, the speed of the greens at the Masters, U. S. Open, and the PGA Championship is 13-14 on Stimpmeter. At the Open Championship, on the other hand, it is closer to a 10. 

Read more: What Putter Does Tiger Woods Use: Model, Specifications, Price and More

“I’ve played British Opens where they’ve been like that,” the former champion at the course further said. “And it’s up to me to make those adjustments, and I didn’t do it.” 

Woods’ history at St. Andrews

St. Andrews is known to be the home of golf. And the 3-time Open Championship winner considers it his favorite golf course in the world. 

The home of golf is a special place for Woods as he has won two of his three Open Championship titles there. He won in 2000, with a record 19-under total score; notably, he scored in the 60s in all fours rounds. Woods won second at St. Andrews in 2005 with an impressive 14-under. 

As his first major venue and having multiple winning experience, Woods have nothing but good memories from the course. However, that didn’t help him to perform better at the 150th Open Championship. Do you think he can change the result in round 2 and make the cut? 

Watch This Story: Tiger Woods Drop Harsh Reality Check Amid Sensational Comeback