ORLANDO – As a keen observer of the golf swing, Padraig Harrington, like so many other lovers of golf, tuned in to watch The Match last Saturday expressly to see what Tiger Woods looked like in his first public performance since the British Open in July. Suffice it to say, Harrington came away impressed.
“You never doubt Tiger’s mental ability, and it’s always one where is he able to come back, and you don’t want to give up,” Harrington said on Thursday during a press conference ahead of the PNC Championship, where he will compete alongside son Paddy in the 20-team event. “He looked better physically at that Match and the speed…I’m interested in that stuff. You know, you’d never run Tiger off, but I actually think he might be even in a better place than I had thought.”
To hear Harrington tell it, Woods, who played just nine competitive rounds this year and will turn 47 later this month, showed him enough in The Match, where he partnered with Rory McIlroy and lost to Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, to believe there are better days ahead for the 15-time major winner, especially at the majors.
“I’m not saying he ‘could be,’ I actually believe he will be a danger,” Harrington said. “I think he’ll win another major. The way I looked at him, I genuinely think he will be in contention.”
Harrington, who has trained obsessively to improve his ball speed and hit 193 mph this year while leading PGA Tour Champions in driving distance, marveled at Tiger’s numbers on Saturday, which hit 178 mph on two occasions at The Match.
Tiger Woods of the United States plays his second shot on the seventh hole during The Match 7 at Pelican at Pelican Golf Club on December 10, 2022 in Belleair, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for The Match)
“I want to go and see it in person and see,” said Harrington when asked if he would go watch Tiger on the range at the PNC. “I think he needs a little bit of physicality as in that ball speed. It’s just tough if you go out there against these young guys, there’s so many of them that they’re hitting it and they’re overpowering golf courses. If you’re not somewhat able to keep up there, initially, I don’t think I would – you’re not doubting Tiger being good down the last nine holes, but the little bit of extra speed will help him in the first 63 holes. That last nine holes, you know, who would want to be coming down the stretch against Tiger, all these young guys, you know. You know he’s capable of doing anything at that stage. And, yeah, I think he’s in a better position to get himself into that last nine holes.”
Woods had to withdraw from the Hero World Challenge earlier this month due to plantar fasciitis and suggested that even in a best-case scenario he only will attempt to play the majors and a very limited schedule beyond that. Woods was able to use a golf cart at The Match and will do so again this week at the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, which is played under the rules of PGA Tour Champions and allows carts. The question for Tiger is will his body hold up and allow him to turn back the clock once more and break a tie with Sam Snead for most wins on the Tour and claw closer to Jack Nicklaus and the record of 18 men’s major titles.
“When I’ve seen him hit balls he looks a lot like the Tiger Woods of pre-accident,” Stewart Cink said. “But it’s just more of the getting around for consecutive days and walking up and down hills. I would not even pretend to know what he’s going through. But he’s told me about some of the pre-round stuff he has to do. He’s not really big on letting you in on a lot but he’s told me some, and I don’t know if I would still be out here trying. I don’t know. He’s just got a fascinating drive inside him and I don’t think that the swing hitting balls on the range will tell you much. It’s more about how he feels at the end of the day getting around on foot.”