Even after posting the worst 72-hole total of his PGA Tour career at last week's Memorial Tournament, Tiger Woods says he has been encouraged by the progress he has made with his revamped golf swing.
The former world number one signed off with a two-over-par 74 at Muirfield Village on Sunday, a day after struggling to a career-worst 85 in the prestigious event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
Woods has 10 days until the opening round of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in Washington State but he firmly believes that is enough time to complete his preparations for the year's second major.
“There's plenty of time,” Woods told reporters on Monday in a satellite teleconference from his home in Jupiter, Florida.
“I needed tournament golf and it was nice to have Memorial in there and to be able to play a golf course that's that difficult, that hard, that demanding from tee to green.”
Woods, who was speaking on media day for the PGA Tour's Quicken Loans National which he hosts, is still adapting to the fifth swing change of his professional career, this time with consultant Chris Como.
“I've had times like this in my life where I've gone through these periods, but you just have to fight through it,” said the 39-year-old American, who has played just five tournaments this season.
“I'm committed to what I'm doing and committed to the changes. Once I start to snowball and start getting more solidified, then that's when things start coming together.”
Woods, who finished last at the Memorial Tournament with a 14-over total of 302, said the work on his swing continued to be a progression of “baseline shifts” to build up his game.
“You just don't go from one to 10,” said Woods, who claimed the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 U.S. Open. “We're taking it one, two, three, four ... making baseline shifts, that's what Chris and I were just calling it.
“I'm very proud of the fact that I stuck with my game plan ... and I was finally able to hit the shots on Sunday that we've been looking for.
“At one point I got it to three under par and lost it coming home, but I showed signs of what we're working on was starting to come together, and that was pretty exciting to see.” – Reuters