Freed-up neck has Tiger hitting it too good

AUSTIN, Texas – The neck tightness that caused Tiger Woods problems at the last World Golf Championship isn’t a concern here at the Match Play.

Woods three-putted (or did worse) six times last month in Mexico and later cited his stiff neck as a part of the problem.

After sitting out the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods declared himself pain-free at The Players.

Woods’ 3-and-1 win over Aaron Wise wasn’t all that pretty, but at least it wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, Woods thinks he might have hit the ball too well.

“Joey says it’s a nice problem to have, but I was hitting my irons flush and hitting through the wind,” he said. “But I said, ‘This is not the time to be encouraging me like this right now. I just hit it over the back of three greens in a row.’ So I probably have to dial that down a little bit and figure that out.”

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Woods made a number of references to his being pleased that the scores won’t matter after his opening match, when he technically yielded 1.2 shots to the field. He nonetheless said he was encouraged by his driving and putting on Wednesday. 

“My neck has been freed up a little bit, and I’m able to get into a better posture and that helps,” he said. “And because of that, I’m able to log in a little bit of practice time, which is nice.”