Tiger Woods took solace in the fact that he can still “grind it out with the best of them,” after he secured his best full-field finish at a PGA Tour event in more than two years.
The 14-time major winner never troubled the top of the leaderboard at the Farmers Insurance Open in California, finishing at three-under-par, seven shots off the lead.
But he carded four birdies in a closing 72 on Sunday, giving himself a first official top-30 finish since the Wyndham Championship over two years ago.
“I played a lot better today,” said Woods of his final round performance which saw him end up tied for 23rd position, one shot ahead of world No. 2 John Rahm.
“I was pleased after not playing for a couple of years,” Woods added, having taken a number of shots from what he described as “weird lies” following wayward drives.
The tournament had yet to be decided at the close of play Sunday, with bad light forcing organizers to postpone the decisive playoff.
Jason Day, Alex Noren and Ryan Palmer had all tied at 10-under after four rounds, with the latter eliminated after only making par on the first playoff hole.
Noren of Sweden and Day, a former world No. 1, will continue their bid for the $1,242,000 prize when the action resumes on Monday.
Fan intervention
Woods might have climbed the standings further still, had a spectator not visibly distracted him by shouting “get in the hole” during his backswing on the 13th green.
That potential birdie putt was missed, but Woods remained pleased with his short game at Torrey Pines, tweeting “I scrambled my butt off but happy with my first event back!”.
“To be able to take cuts like I did … it’s something that I didn’t know that I could do yet,” he told reporters.
Woods often outdrove his younger adversaries, even with his fused back — smashing it 358 yards at the first hole Sunday.
But he was the first to acknowledge there remains a lot of work to do off the tee.
The 42-year-old was last in the field in driving accuracy, hitting fewer than a third of fairways over the course of the four days.
“I can feel some of the things I’m doing wrong in my swing,” Woods said, “so we’re going to go back to work.”
Woods is expected to be back in action for February’s Genesis Open at the Riviera Country Club in Southern California.
