TULSA, Okla. – Following his worst round ever at the PGA Championship, the toll of 18 chilling holes was evident when Tiger Woods was asked his thoughts on playing Sunday’s final round.
“Well, I’m sore. I know that is a fact. We’ll do some work and see how it goes,” said Woods, who carded a 9-over 79 that included a 5-footer for par at the last hole to narrowly salvage a round in the 70s.
Woods struggled from the start of Round 3 with a tee shot that found a water hazard on the second hole, leading to the first of seven bogeys, but it was a triple bogey at the par-3 sixth hole that began his unraveling.
“I couldn’t get off the bogey train there, or other train, too,” said Woods, who went on to bogey Nos. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. “I didn’t do anything right. I didn’t hit many good shots. Consequently, I ended up with a pretty high score.”
Full-field scores from the PGA Championship
Woods rallied to make the cut Friday with late birdies at Nos. 13 and 16 and key par saves at the 14th and 15th holes. He hoped to find some sort of rhythm early Saturday that would allow him to post a good round. Instead, he plummeted into a tie for 76th (out of 76 players who made the cut) and a possible withdrawal from just his second official event since undergoing multiple surgeries on his right leg following a single-vehicle crash in early 2021.
Woods, whose previous worse round at the PGA was his opening 77 at the 2011 championship, has been moving gingerly all week and has been caught on camera grimacing after shots. Saturday’s cold conditions and early tee time likely didn’t help his condition.
“Looking at him yesterday, if that would have been me, I would have been considering pulling out and just going home, but Tiger is different and he’s proved he’s different,” Rory McIlroy said on Friday after playing with Woods in Rounds 1 and 2. “It was just a monumental effort.”
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