Woods shrugs off back problems, cards 1-under 71 at Memorial

Ohio, July 19 (IANS) American golf great Tiger Woods carded a third-round one-under 71 at the Memorial Tournament in steamy Dublin, Ohio, thus remaining 11 shots behind the overnight leaders. Woods admitted that he has a lot to improve but his back was feeling better.

“I was moving better today and felt like I did the first day, and consequently I could make the passes at the golf ball like I did the first day,” Woods told reporters. “Unfortunately I didn’t make any putts today.”

“I think that getting back into the flow and competing again and playing at this level, I hadn’t done that in a while.

“Playing home and playing out here is so very different, and making sure that I stay sharp and don’t make any silly mistakes and dump the ball in the wrong spots or give myself bad angles, that’s one of the things about playing competitive golf that’s very different from playing at home.”

A series of injuries had forced him to compete in just one tournament between August 2015 and January 2018 and he continues to be on a comeback trail from the back surgery that has allowed him to return to professional golf.

“Overall I felt like I played well today, controlled the ball well. I hit one really bad shot there at three, but other than that, it was a pretty good, solid day,” said the 15-times major winner. “The golf course is right where they want it.

“Now that the wind has picked up just a touch, it’s going to dry it out a little bit more.”

–IANS

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