Tiger Woods highlighted his desire to work on his iron play as the main reason for featuring at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Woods, at age 42 and with a fused spine, has learned to pick his spots. Outside of majors he strategically builds his schedule around where he plays best: Torrey Pines, Riviera, Bay Hill.
Quail Hollow is not one of those courses, which makes Woods' decision to compete this week somewhat curious.
Woods last played at Quail Hollow Club in 2012 – and missed the cut. Since then, the course has undergone sweeping renovations before hosting the US PGA Championship in 2017.
Woods had a nice run at the course from 2004-09 with three top-10 finishes (including a 2007 victory), but much like everything else in his life after 2009, his play at Quail Hollow took a turn for the worse. He missed the cut in 2010, skipped the tournament in 2011 and took a five-year hiatus from the event after his poor showing in 2012.
But The Players Championship is next weekend and the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills (along with a $12million purse) is in mid-June. And, Woods has an entirely new set of TaylorMade irons in his bag ready to be put to the test.
"You saw it, I didn't hit my irons very good [at Augusta]," Woods said on Wednesday in Charlotte when asked about the Masters. "I drove it great on the weekend, but I kept hitting the ball in, and if I did hit a green, I hit above the hole. I hit it in the wrong spot."
Woods needs to work out his kinks on a course he deemed "much harder than it used to be" before stepping on an even grander stage.
"[I'm] building toward next week," Woods said. "Hopefully, I can have everything peak for this week and next week, but mainly next week. And after that, getting ready for Shinnecock."
Woods said he tossed his clubs in his closet for 10 days following the Masters and added: "It was nice to shut it down, reflect, analyse, sit back and try to figure out what's the best course of action going forward so I can win events."
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