Mike Saladino
Staff Writer

Jason Day’s six-hole playoff win over Alex Noren may have been the leading headline from last week. The top headliner of the Farmers Insurance Open was Tiger Woods, who finished tied for 23rd, finishing with rounds of 72, 71, 70, and 72.

Even though Tiger did not win the tournament, it was a successful week for him. Seeing him play four rounds on a challenging golf course with no pain in his lower back is great to see. The other big positive out of Tiger this past week was his golf game. In Tiger’s last event, in an exhibition event in December, Tiger’s game was good.

The difference in last week’s event was the golf course was a lot more challenging compared to the one he played in December. Torrey Pines, the golf course that hosted the Farmers Insurance Open, contains thick rough, fast greens, and is over 7600 yards.

With all that said Tiger still performed at a high level. He was able to get the ball up and down a lot out of the thick rough around the greens. His putter also did not fail him. He made plenty of putts the entire week. Whether it was saving pars or throwing in a couple of birdies, the putter looked good. The biggest thing Tiger has to improve upon is his driver. On plenty of holes during the week, he missed plenty of fairways to the right. His clubhead speed and driving distance have improved since last year but he had trouble getting through the ball, causing the right miss.

If Tiger is going to contend in any major or PGA Tour tournament this year he is going to have to fix his right miss because it is so difficult to play out of the rough like he did last week.

Up next for Tiger is the Genesis Open played at Riviera Country Club, just outside of Los Angeles in two weeks. Riviera Country Club is a special place for Tiger because it is where Tiger played his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year old amateur and his foundation is hosting this year’s event. Riviera is a tight tree lined fairway golf course so it is imperative for Tiger to find the fairway.

Overall Tiger’s main goal is to stay healthy and continue to get better and better before The Masters in April. Even though The Masters seems like a long way away and Tiger has not released an unofficial schedule yet but the years that Tiger has been healthy he probably will only play 2 more events after playing at Riviera.

The road to The Masters for Tiger Woods is looking good after last week’s performance at the Farmers Insurance Open. It is now all about making sure he corrects his mistakes and continues to perfect his game. Tiger Woods is back ladies and gentlemen!