Tiger Woods isn’t competing in this week’s Hero World Challenge, but he’s still making his presence felt.
Woods, whose pre-tournament news conference included some hints at a change in direction for the PGA Tour, has been on hand in Albany throughout the week as tournament host. On Saturday, he wandered the range before the round, visiting contenders including Swede Alex Noren, with whom he chatted and quizzed about his swing.
We’ve already seen and heard plenty of evidence this week that Woods is invested in the modern game; Read how Woods described what he admires about world number one Scottie Scheffler’s game:
“Scottie’s game? Yeah, I really like watching him hit the irons, the shaped shots that he hits, the trajectory, the window changes that he has, the distance control, the miss in the right place, the right rotation in certain pin locations,” Woods said. “It’s all subtle things that mean a lot over the course of 72 holes. That to me is impressive. If you don’t have control of trajectory, you can’t have control of distance. Seeing him move up and down in different windows, using the wind, fighting the wind and controlling the spin is fun to watch.”
(That was just part of his response.)
Noren is a fascinating guy to watch train given his unique pre-shot routines and propensity to knock it out of the dirt. He’s also at a fascinating point in his career, the kind of guy who was assistant captain of the European Ryder Cup team this year, but also came close to making it.
Everything Woods said to Noren had a positive effect: He started the par-birdie-eagle and worked his way to the penultimate final round after a five-under 67. He will begin Sunday’s final round in T3, three shots back of Sepp Straka’s lead and two behind world number one Scottie Scheffler.
Noren won DP World Tour events in August and September and worked his way into the world top 20; another top ranking would cap off a strong final third of his year.
“Last year I took a lot of time off and worked a lot on my game, but this year I tried to play more tournaments this end of the season,” Noren said. “You see where you are for next year. Then I have about a month and a half to fix the things I don’t like right now and polish them.”
As for his visit with Woods? Noren could only smile.
“Yeah, it’s amazing. I grew up idolizing Tiger,” he said. “It was a perfect time in my life. I was 18 in 2000, 16 in 1698 when he came. So yeah, I mean, I have so much respect and admiration for him.
“And see him there and ask questions and – not that he’s asking questions for himself [benefit]but I think he loves golf and it was good to talk to him.
