Tiger Woods says he is getting treatment on his injured left elbow. (Photo: Darron Cummings, AP)
GULLANE, Scotland - Tiger Woods left West Palm Beach, Fla., on Saturday for the British Open, landing with his trusted confidants - caddie Joe La Cava, agent Mark Steinberg, public relations manager Glen Greenspan and girlfriend Lindsey Vonn - and with his entire luggage collection intact.
A healthy left elbow got off the plane, as well.
Woods touched down at 8 a.m. Sunday and headed straight to Muirfield Golf Club, host for this week's 142nd British Open. He hit a few balls and went right off the first tee with Jason Day and Dustin Johnson to begin preparation for the year's third major.
Woods, the winner of four tournaments this season but coming off two dismal starts and a withdrawal from the AT&T National three weeks ago because of a strain in his elbow, hit numerous shots on every hole and didn't flinch one time like he did so often at the U.S. Open, where a strain in his elbow bothered him throughout the tournament as he finished in a tie for 32nd. Two weeks earlier, Woods, who won at Torrey, Doral, Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass this season and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in the world, finished in a tie for 65th in The Memorial.
"It's fine. It feels good," Woods told two reporters on the 8th hole at Muirfield, where he had just hit a 4-iron downwind 285 yards. " ... I took a couple weeks off and that's why I didn't play and I started practicing last week. It felt fine.
"That's one of the reasons I let it heal, so I could go right back at it."
Woods wasn't surprised by the greeting he got at Muirfield, especially the rock-hard fairways, the result of a dry summer off the Firth of Forth. That expectation had Woods siding with caution for his elbow and was one of the reasons he played just the front nine on Sunday.
"I better not push it," Woods said when asked about returning to golf. "The ground's going to be hard over here, obviously. I just wanted to make sure everything was healed before I came over."
The last time Woods came over to Muirfield was in 2002. After becoming the first man to win the year's first two majors in 30 years, Woods placed himself in prime contention in the Open, sitting just two strokes off the lead after 36 holes. Then he caught the worst of a storm that sent fans scurrying for shelter, blew tents over and sent scores skyward. He needed more than 10 golf gloves to get through the round, made his only birdie on the 17th hole, didn't reach the par-3 fourth hole with his tee shot and shot 10-over-par 81, the highest score of his career. He still managed to finish the tournament at even-par with a final-round 65.
As he walked down the narrow par-5 fifth on Sunday, he brought up the miserable day without prompting.
"I hit driver, 2-iron, 2-iron to this hole," said Woods, who on this day needed just two 5-woods to reach the green in two on a bright, calm Sunday. "I barely made the fairway with my tee shot. I made par, though.
" ... You're kind of hoping for this when you come over here. It's obviously playing a lot quicker than it did in '02. These fairways have some fire to them. The greens aren't up to speed but I'm sure they will get there. It's been dry over here. This place is firm. We're hitting the ball a long ways downwind."
And for Woods, he's hitting them pain free.
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