Tiger Woods Prepares for U.S. Open – Is This His Best Chance to Win a Major?

Tiger Woods is gearing up for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 next week. On Tuesday, he was spotted scouting the course and playing it for seven hours.

Woods is attempting to win his first Major Championship since 2019, where he overcame a lineup of the world’s best players at The Masters. He has not won the U.S. Open since 2008.

However, Woods’s playing opportunities are slim to none in 2024. After dealing with ailments like leg injuries from his 2021 car accident, back pain from earlier in his career, and his most recent plantar fascitis repair, he only plays a handful of events every year. 

If all goes according to plan, Woods will compete at all four Major Championships in 2024. This would be the first time since 2019 that he played all four Majors.

Evidently, he is coming out for more than just participation purposes, as he was spotted at Pinehurst today scouting and practicing various shots around the course:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Scott Lincicome (@pinehurstrealestate)

Woods will return to Florida this week and fine-tune his game for next week’s U.S. Open. He finished 60th at The Masters this year and missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Valhalla. This will be Woods’s first U.S. Open appearance since 2020. He also missed the cut at that event.

Does Tiger Have a Chance?

Woods’s previously mentioned ailments have been his downfall in recent memory. At last year’s Masters, he made the cut but withdrew due to the injury in his ankle and missed the rest of the year’s Majors.

However, Augusta is a challenging course in terms of walking. It is hilly and has more changes in elevation than television leads on, and it is a challenge to walk four days of tournament conditions at that course, even on healthy legs.

Pinehurst is different, though. It is a flatter, less difficult course to trek. It could be easier on Tiger’s body, and his recovery processes may not be as extensive or as high a priority as they are at other venues. 

This is where the question of whether Tiger has a chance comes in. Can he win? Absolutely. Even seasoned golf analysts believe that Pinehurst could be his best opportunity to win a Major Championship. There are three reasons why:

1. Tiger Woods won’t have to deal with a difficult walk
   • Half of Woods’s challenge comes from the walk alone. Recovering from it is extremely difficult at other courses, but this could be one of the easier walks he has.
2. Warm weather conditions favor Tiger
   • Cold weather is tougher on the joints and bones than warm weather is. Woods won’t have a problem staying loose, which complements his game tremendously.
3. Conditions are going to make it anyone’s tournament
   • Pinehurst No. 2 is a difficult course that favors the precise and the composed. Lose your marbles here and you might as well pack it in. This is where the mental game will benefit, and it could be a difference maker in who wins this U.S. Open.

Cover Image via Golf Magazine

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