Tigers Woods didn’t help his chances of getting to defend his Tour Championship title.
Woods is projected to need a top 10 finish this week in the BMW Championship to advance to East Lake, where he is defending champion. After one round on Thursday, he was tied for 50th in Medinah, Ill.
One week after he withdrew with a mild oblique strain at Liberty National, Woods could only manage a 71 that felt feeble compared with everyone else. All but two players in the 69-man field were at par or better on a Medinah course that was soft from bursts of rain earlier in the week.
“It’s just not sharp,” Woods said. “I’m trying to make changes in my swing, and it’s just not quite there yet.”
The good news for Woods? He says he didn’t feel any tightness in his oblique.
“I just need to clean up my rounds and get going,” he said. “Seems like the whole field is under par.”
On the other hand, Justin Thomas already is set for the Tour Championship next week and the chase for FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize. That’s not what interests him.
“I don’t give a crap about the money,” he said. “It’s about winning tournaments.”
He made his first birdie after hitting a tree on the fourth hole, leaving him a 5-iron he hit to 2 feet. His last birdie was a putt from about 60 feet on the fringe from the back of the 16th green. He did enough right in between for a 7-under 65 and a share of the lead with Jason Kokrak.
The others to post 65 at Medinah were Woods, Mike Weir and Skip Kendall at the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006. Woods won both those majors. Winning the second FedEx Cup playoff event might be a lot tougher.
Unlike Thomas, Kokrak does have the Tour Championship on his mind. Along with a chase for the $15 million, just getting to East Lake includes an invitation to the Masters, and he’s never been. He played the par 5s in 5 under — including an eagle on No. 10 when he holed a 30-yard shot from the rough — and made only one bogey.
Kokrak, who has never won in 207 starts as a pro on the PGA Tour, is No. 32 in the FedEx Cup. The top 30 after this week advance to the Tour Championship, where there will be a staggered start based on par for the final event.
The leader will start at 10 under. The 30th player will start at even par.
The goal for Kokrak is to get there.
“I thought about doing some number-crunching and seeing what I had to finish, but I think putting myself in a good position to win a golf tournament is going to get the job done,” he said. “I don’t think I need to worry about where I need to finish in the tournament. I’d rather go out and try to win.”
They had a one-shot lead over 49-year-old Jim Furyk, a former FedEx Cup champion who hasn’t been back to East Lake in five years. Patrick Cantlay, Joel Dahmen, Lucas Glover and Brandt Snedeker also were at 66, while the large group at 67 included Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
– with AP
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