Tiger Woods is back in reckoning at a Golf tournament, after shooting a 66 Friday at the Quicken Loans National at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Gainesville, Virginia
The score catapulted him three shots off the clubhouse lead, at 8-under 134. Ryo Ishikawa is on the driver’s seat with 11 under, Rickie Fowler and Kevin Chappell are
tied at 10 under, while David Lingmerth is 9 under.
Woods’ three-putt at No. 14 was his lone bogey Friday. He made six birdies over his next 13 holes.
“It got me going a little bit,” Woods said of his tee shot at No. 14. “(It) kind of got me kick-started a little bit, got me a little fired up. Got me a little more focused on what I’m doing out there instead of just hitting a shot.”
Woods’ 134 total at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is his lowest opening 36-hole total since the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods hasn’t started a weekend in the top 10 since 2013, either. Before today, Woods had completed 23 rounds on TOUR this season; he had been in the top 10 after just one of those rounds, the third round at the Masters. Woods started the final round at Augusta National in fifth place before shooting 73 to finish 17th.
He hit 10 of 14 fairways Friday while averaging 318.5 yards off the tee. He also hit 14 of 18 greens, while his strokes gained: putting was 3.17.
“I have been through this before,” Woods said. “You make changes to the game, it takes a little time sometimes and you have to be patient with it. I know what I’m doing out there. It’s just a matter of time before things start to click in and get more jelled and … the new patterns become more natural. That takes time. That’s not going to happen overnight.
“People want the immediate fix, the one tip that’s going to work for the rest of their life. It doesn’t work that way. It takes time to build it.”
Woods is making his first start since shooting 76-75 to miss the cut at The Open Championship at St. Andrews, where he had won two Claret Jugs. The Open followed The Greenbrier Classic, where Woods showed some signs of progress by posting a 7-under 273 total and T32 finish.