THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Soon. Pressed for whether he’ll play the Houston Open the week before next month’s Masters, Tiger Woods said he’ll make the decision soon.
“I’m not going to wait around on that decision and commit either way, one way or the other,” he said following a final-round 74 to tie for 72nd at Sherwood Country Club. “We were talking about our progression and our training sessions and we’ll be in the gym tomorrow afternoon and get back after it that way, but I’ll make a decision quickly on whether or not I’m going to play Houston or not.”
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Regardless of whether he plays Houston for the first time in his career, his play at Sherwood made it clear what he needs to work on before the year’s final major – just about everything. Woods finished 69th (out of 77 players) in strokes gained: off the tee, 68th in strokes gained: approach the green and 68th in scrambling.
“I did not drive the ball and didn’t hit my irons close enough consistently,” he said. “The only thing I can take out of this week that I did positively, I feel like each and every day and pretty much every hole is, I putted well. I feel like I rolled it great. Unfortunately, most of them were for pars and a couple for bogeys here and there, but not enough for birdies.”
Although he has plenty to work on over the next two weeks, Woods did say he’ll focus on the same thing he’s focused on every year before going to Augusta National – hitting a high draw.
“It’s so advantageous to hit a high draw,” he said. “That’s always been my game plan ever since I was an amateur, making sure that once I played it for the first time in ’95 that I can get that ball up and turning from right to left.”