HOYLAKE, England — It has been eight years, and what surely feels like a few lifetimes ago, since Tiger Woods cried on the shoulder of Steve Williams, his caddie at the time, on the back of the 18th green at Royal Liverpool, the place where he won the last of his three British Open titles.
On Saturday, upon arriving to town for this week’s British Open, Woods took a nostalgic spin around the place, playing 12 holes of practice alongside Patrick Reed.
Woods and Reed began their round in mid-afternoon sunshine that eventually turned into spitting rain. They played the first six holes of the front nine, then skipped to No. 13 and played in from there.
Woods’ win in 2006 was one of his many historic performances in that he played all 72 holes without hitting a driver once, thanks to the bone-dry, browned-out conditions and his bold strategy.
On Saturday, the course was almost unrecognizable to him with its green grass and lush-looking conditions.
“It’s definitely different, there’s no doubt,’’ Woods told a small group of reporters who followed his practice round. “It’s lush, but it’s still playing fast.’’
Most importantly, Woods reiterated how good he feels physically, coming back from March 31 back surgery. Much the way he looked three weeks ago when he made his comeback at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, Woods showed no signs of laboring physically.
“This is how I used to feel,’’ he said. “I had been playing with this [back problem] for a while and I had my good weeks and bad weeks. Now, they’re all good.’’
Asked if he is limited in any way, Woods said, “I can do whatever I want. I’m at that point now.’’
Asked where his confidence level is coming off the surgery and the missed cut at Congressional, Woods said, “Growing.’’
“Congressional was big for me — the fact that I could go out there and play, and I got better as the days went on,’’ Woods said. “I was a little bit leery, a little iffy about [how I was going to feel] — especially hitting the ball as hard as I was able to hit it. I’ve gotten my speed back and I’m starting to hit the ball out there again. I’m only going to get stronger as the weeks go on.’’
Despite the different conditions this time around, Woods said he still believes Hoylake can be had without using a driver. On Saturday, Woods hit a driver only once — on the 372-yard par-4 fourth hole — “just to test it down there,’’ he said.
“This course is giving it up,’’ Woods said. “There’s lots of roll, even though we just got rain.’’
Woods was in a relaxed mood, bantering with his caddie, Joe LaCava, with Reed and even with reporters. After Reed hit a line-drive tee shot off the 18th, Woods sarcastically cracked, “Try to hit it a little lower. That one almost went under the ground.’’
“It felt good,’’ Woods said of getting onto the course again. “I remember most of the holes, which is nice. It was a little different seeing it under these green conditions. We had summer earlier in the day and now it’s cool and rainy.
“I just wanted to get out here and get a feel for the golf course. I just kind of wanted to get out here and get my feet wet … and literally I actually did.’’