GULLANE, Scotland – Tiger Woods said his elbow injury shouldn’t pose an issue this week at Muirfield, but he will practice only nine holes each day to make sure he is fit for the British Open.
Woods hasn’t played since the U.S. Open because of a strained elbow. That week he revealed that he’s actually been playing hurt since The Players in May, which he won, and that it flared up after repeatedly hitting out of the thick rough at Merion.
Woods received treatment for the elbow and in recent weeks has played “a lot” at home in South Florida.
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“The elbow feels good,” he said Tuesday. “It’s one of the good things of taking the time off to let it heal and get the treatment and therapy on it. The main reason was that coming over here the ground is going to be hard, obviously. And I’m going to need that elbow to be good. I needed to have this thing set and healed. Everything is good to go.”
This punishing links is an entirely different test, of course, and the true barometer of how Woods’ elbow feels will come when he finds the fescue off the tee. The rough is waist-high in some spots, after a wet spring here followed by a dry stretch. That’s why Woods will play only nine holes each day, to not “push it” on the amount of holes on the hard ground.
“I just wanted to make sure that I’m rested and feel fit and ready to go for the championship,” he said.