Tiger Woods concedes his game could ‘get a little worse’ before it gets better

Tiger Woods hits a tee shot during the Quicken Loans National Pro-Am on July 29, 2015 in Gainesville, Virginia. Rob Carr / Getty Images

Former world No 1 Tiger Woods concedes his form may have to get worse before it gets better, but he says he is close to turning the corner.

Woods has lurched from one career-worst performance to another in 2015, including missing consecutive cuts in major championships for the first time in his career at the US Open and British Open.

The 39-year-old American carded rounds of 76 and 75 to miss the cut by seven shots at St Andrews and recorded just three birdies in two days on the Old Course, where he lifted the Claret Jug in 2000 and 2005.

Despite such performances — Woods also recorded three rounds in the 80s in six events — the 14-time major winner says his game is “coming together” ahead of this week’s Quicken Loans National.

“The neat thing is I’ve done it before,” Woods said of his latest comeback and swing change.

“I’ve gone through this and, unfortunately, sometimes I have to get a little bit worse before I can make a giant stride to get forward and go better. It’s frustrating not to be able to win golf tournaments.

“I’m not really there in contention very often and so that part is frustrating. But I know how close it feels and I know that I just need a couple shots here and there and it turns the tide. Every time I’ve had those opportunities, I haven’t done it.

“I didn’t think it would take this long because I thought I would have my short game earlier, which I didn’t at the very beginning of the year, and so you can cover up a lot of different things when you’re chipping and putting well ... But things are starting to come together. Again, I’m sticking with it, sticking with the process and just trying to make progress each and everyday.”

Woods (2009 and 2012) and defending champion Justin Rose (2014 and 2010) are the only multiple winners of the Quicken Loans National, which benefits Woods’s own foundation.

Rose’s victory earlier this season at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans means the former US Open champion has at least one PGA Tour victory in six consecutive seasons, second only to Dustin Johnson’s current run of eight straight seasons with a win.

The European Ryder Cup star Rose celebrates his 35th birthday on Thursday.

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