While Tiger Woods has expressed a continued desire to qualify for the final WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, there’s a strong likelihood that both of his next two starts will be at major championships. According to Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, that might not be a problem.
Chamblee was a recent guest on the Golf Channel Podcast with host Will Gray, and he used the opportunity to sing the praises of Woods in the wake of his T-4 finish at the Quicken Loans National. Woods will next tee it up at The Open at Carnoustie, likely needing around a top-7 finish to move into the top 50 in the world rankings in time to qualify for Firestone.
Below are some of Chamblee’s reactions following Woods’ third top-5 finish of the season:
On Woods’ continued effort to assemble the pieces:
“Tiger has shown an inability to be versatile with his tee shots and an inability to finish off rounds, but I think everyone expects him to get over that. It’s almost like he’s putting the pieces of the puzzle back together again as much mentally as he is physically or technically.”
On his ceiling following last week’s result:
“This was some of the best he’s driven the golf ball, at D.C., all year. So if he shows up at Carnoustie and drives it even a little bit better, well, then you look at the PGA Championship and you think, well, there are only just a few people that can beat him when he’s playing his best golf. I’m convinced of that. The world rankings in no way right now tell you who he is as a player. He’s far better than those world rankings.”
On Woods’ chances this month in Scotland:
“We all expect him to do it at some point. I don’t know that it’ll be Carnoustie, because Carnoustie is very intimidating and that’s where he’s seemed to have stumbled a little bit, under intimidating circumstances. But it’s going to happen, and it’s going to happen sometime this year.”
On Woods’ chances at next month’s PGA at Bellerive:
“It’s going to be stifling hot there, more like it was in D.C., and the conditions will be softer, which I think will make Tiger Woods a little more comfortable.”
For more thoughts from Chamblee on Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas as well as his own aspirations to qualify for the upcoming Senior Open Championship, click below or click here to subscribe to the podcast.
