PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — The thing that many people forget is this: Tiger Woods remembers how to do this stuff.
Despite the elongated time away from the game with his back injuries and off-the-course issues, Woods hasn’t forgotten how to play golf and get himself into contention.
That was very apparent on Friday in the Honda Classic second round at PGA National where he gritted out a 1-over 71 on a difficult, blustery day to stand just four shots out of the lead held by Luke List and Jamie Lovemark, both of whom are 3-under.
“I’m four back right now,’’ Woods said. “So I’m right there in the ballgame. I feel like I’m right there. I’m right where I can win a golf tournament. You know, four back on this golf course with 36 holes to go, I mean, anybody can win this golf tournament right now. It’s wide open.’’
Now, with Woods at 1-over and in a tie for 14th entering the weekend the question becomes whether he’s ready to seize control of the tournament the way he once did with regularity.
The answer from Brandt Snedeker, who played the first two rounds with Woods, was rather revealing — and music to the ears of those desperate to witness Woods winning golf tournaments again.
This despite the fact that this is only Woods’ third full-field tournament dating to January 2016, encompassing eight rounds.
“I can’t believe it’s his third start,’’ Snedeker said. “He’s close to playing some really, really good golf. This is a perfect golf course for him. This is a golf course where you’ve got to hit greens and driver is not a huge weapon here because the fairways are so fast. It plays into his strengths — great iron play, sharp short game.
“If he makes a few putts, I’d be shocked if he’s not there on Sunday with a chance to win. Because he’s going to win again. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.’’
Snedeker played with Woods in his first full-field PGA Tour start, in January at Torrey Pines, and said today’s Woods “is significantly improved’’ from Torrey Pines.
“His iron game is way better, his driver is way better … and I don’t see it going backward from here,’’ Snedeker said. “The more time he has he’s going to feel better. There were a lot of positives here. He drove the ball fantastically. The ball he hit in the water on 15 was a really good shot. It just got dominated by the wind at the last little bit.’’
Indeed, Woods’ only big mistake of the day came on the par-3 15th hole, where he hit his tee shot into the water and took double bogey. He was 1-under at the time and in a tie for eighth.
Woods followed the double on No. 15 with a bogey on 16 to fall to 2-over and threaten to sabotage what had been such a solid day of golf for him. But he got a crucial stroke back with a birdie on the treacherous par-3 17th hole, which has been eating players alive all week.
How tough were the conditions? Alex Noren, the first-round leader, who was playing right behind Woods, shot 75 Friday. Rickie Fowler, the defending champion, missed the 5-over cut, shooting 7-over.
How good was Woods’ round? His 71 was more than two shots better than the field average on Friday of 73.14. He’s 11-of-15 scrambling this week, which is a sign of how sharp his short game is.
“He hit some great shots,’’ Snedeker said. “The shot on 17 was awesome — ripping a 5-iron front-left against he wind to 10 feet under the hole. That’s about all you can ask for.’’
Woods said he was deciding between a 5-iron and 6-iron on 17 before opting for 5-iron.
A Woods birdie on the ninth hole got him to 1-under and electrified the huge crowds following his every move. Suddenly, his name was on the first page of the leaderboard.
“I saw it,’’ said Justin Thomas, who was playing in the group in front of Woods. “You can kind of hear everything that’s going on behind you. The roars for [Woods’ playing partners] Patton [Kizzire] and Sneds were a little different sounding than the ones for Tiger, so I knew when something good was happening.
“It’s great. I would love nothing more than to come down 18 with him on Sunday and both of us have a chance to win.’’
Woods, who missed the cut at last week’s Genesis Open and never has missed two consecutive cuts in his career, was asked if he felt familiar competitive juices flowing when he saw his name on the leaderboard.
“We’ve got a long way to go,’’ he said. “When I got up near [the lead], when I was about two or three back, we still had 45 more holes to go. So a long way to go.’’