BMW Championship Preview, 2 Sept
Deutsche Bank was a good week for me. I felt comfortable with my game and with my shot-making. The work with Butch is definitely paying off. But I think probably the most satisfying part of my game was my putting; I tied-3rd in putting in Boston and that’s better than it has been all year. That’s the final link in the chain, basically. I mean, when I start putting well I know I’m capable of winning anywhere. Now, as I said last week, I really want to push on and finish the season strongly.
Before I talk about this week’s BMW Championship, though, let me just give you a quick round-by-round recap from Boston. Friday was a perfect day for golf, with almost no breeze out there, and I played nicely to shoot 66, five-under par. That was with a couple of sixes on par-5s, as well, so other than that it was obviously a good day’s play.
On Saturday I played a bogey-free round to shoot 65 and that was really satisfying. A lot of my rounds recently have had the odd mistake here and there. But this time I kept my card clean – you know, I hit a lot of quality golf shots and made some putts, too. And on Sunday I continued to play pretty well. There was more wind out there and it was blowing across on most of the holes, so it wasn’t quite the birdie-fest that it had been on the first couple of days. I finished with an eagle-three to shoot 69, which was nice. That put me in the hunt for the final day’s play.
I knew I’d have to go out there and be aggressive on Monday. I needed to make a move early. I was four shots behind and the guys were making a ton of birdies. I was actually hoping the wind would get up again, because it would make the leaders protect their score a little bit. I guess I wasn’t figuring on Vijay going out there and doing what he did!
Things went according to plan on the front nine; I made three birdies in my first seven holes to get to 16-under par for the tournament. I just didn’t manage to keep it going, but with the greens as hard as they were on the final day it was tough making a move. The course was playing much tougher than the first couple of days and it was difficult getting it close to the hole. The greens got US Open type stuff on the back nine, so my 70 really wasn’t a bad score. Vijay just made it look like a bad score!
But anyway, 14-under par and tied-3rd….that’s a bit more like it. I came to Boston needing a result to help boost my confidence and consolidate my position in the FedEx Cup points list and I feel like I achieved both. I climbed from 52nd to 19th spot and, all in all, I feel good about my game.
Coming up this week…
We’re at Bellerive in St. Louis this week for the BMW Championship. This is the last FedEx Cup playoff tournament before the Tour Championship and we’re down to a field of just 70. Come Sunday night, the top-30 will progress to East Lake in Atlanta in two week’s time.
Bellerive is a great golf course and personally I can’t wait to tee it up here. I love this course. Last time I was here we were practising and getting ready for the American Express Championship on 11 September 2001, when we heard the shocking news from New York and obviously the tournament was cancelled.
Now, I think everyone is excited to be back. I remember it being kind of an old-fashioned style golf course, with lots of trees and big greens. The fairways will be tight this week and the rough is long. It’ll be a good test and, as I said, I’m really looking forward to the week. Too many times this year I’ve been going into tournaments feeling like I’m fighting my game, or searching for something, but not this week. I’ve got a bit of momentum coming in here and that feels good.
But before I finish this week’s report, I just want to thank a lot of you out there who have sent me emails and messages of encouragement this past couple of months. I’ve been struggling with my game and, to be honest, at times like that your support means a lot. I really appreciate it, so thanks again.
