I know this was not the U.S. Open and the stakes were not very high, but Tiger’s golf game was pretty impressive throughout the PNC Championship. Obviously, the PNC Championship is more of a feel-good weekend for a lot of golfing icons young and old, as players from all eras get to play with one another. Tiger was playing with his son, Charlie as he has for the past three years of this tournament which has made it must watch television. 

It is always cool to see Tiger play with Charlie as it is obvious he tries to copy his mannerisms on the course. But getting to Tiger’s game, the first thing that was noticeable is that he has his swing speed back as he was topping out at 180 mph ball speed which is well above tour average. Tiger was consistent hitting it past Justin Thomas as he played with Jsutin and his father, Mike both days of the tournament. Another noticeable part of his game was the long iron display we saw, especially on Saturday the first round of the tournament. Tiger said of that round, “It was nice to turn back the clock.” His short game touch was impeccable all week as he had great control of his spin with his wedges as well as a vintage Tiger chip in. 

The last takeaway I had from watching Tiger is that walking is still the main issue and looks like it will be for the foreseeable future. Tiger took a cart for this week, but has said in the past that he will refuse to in PGA Tour Competition. Tiger’s game looked good enough to play and compete on the right week at the right course, however his health is the biggest obstacle at this point. He also made it clear that his schedule will remain limited sighting that the four majors are the priority at this stage of his career. But at this point, the PGA Championship at Oak Hill and the U.S. Open at THe Los Angeles Country CLub are not guarantees given the difficulty of the walk. However, if I would take a guess he will play at least 3 majors in 2023. I am not sure the next time we will see him play, but nothing would be better than seeing him walking the grounds of Augusta come April. I do think that the state of his game is good and as he recovers from his plantar fasciitis injury, fans can start to feel more optimistic about 2023.