After his disastrous defeat at the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods has a new message for the U.S. Open.

“I need to play more” – Tiger Woods eyes U.S. Open after comfortable failure at PGA Championship

Despite rounds of 72 and 77 at Valhalla, the 15-time major champion remained optimistic that he is “physically better” than he was a month ago.

After par-par in the opening round at Valhalla, Tiger Woods needed a weak second day to qualify for the PGA Championship. But after a triple-bogey-triple-bogey early Friday morning, Woods added his name to a long list of players who missed the weekend in Kentucky. Despite the performance and lack of playing time ahead of the second men’s major in 2024, the 15-time major winner remains optimistic as his attention turns to the US Open at Pinehurst in June, an event for which he received a special exemption in April.

Admitting he is in better physical shape than he was a month ago, Woods said after Friday’s tour: “It’s been a great week here in Valhalla and unfortunately my grades didn’t reflect what people thought about me. and what a great week I had. Unfortunately, I took too many photos.

“I got off to a bad start, and the roughness caught up with me at count two. There is no sand in the bunker either. I just made a mistake there. I compounded the problem there at 4. Just kept making mistakes and things you can’t do, not just in tournaments but in Majors especially. And I continued them. I was here for most of the day and unfortunately the damage was done early. “I just need to play more. Unfortunately, I didn’t play many tournaments, but my graphics did not have a tournament. Hopefully everything will work out somehow during my home workouts and I’ll be ready for Pinehurst. Physically, yes, I’m better than a month ago. I still have a lot to do, a lot to improve physically, and hopefully me and my team can get it done before Pinehurst and get going.”

Woods in the second round of the PGA Championship

After missing just 14th in his career at a major (a feat dating back to 1995), Woods also explained how his time on the PGA Tour Policy Council is going, a position he was appointed to in March 2024.

Despite negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the 48-year-old insists it has not affected his golf game, with Woods declaring: “They are both equally important to me, the game and my responsibilities.” as a player director, whether on a political council or a business council. “All three are important in their own way, in different ways, firstly, what I play with pride, what I can do here and off the golf course, and what I do as a player manager and player representative. The influence and responsibility you have and what you can do off the golf course. “When we ask one of the players, we don’t just sleep. Weird time at night, overnight, there are many midnight and zooms to read many emails. This is all I signed up for as a game director, and this is a way that I can help and hopefully make that impact, and I’ve done that in the past, but I hope I can make an even bigger impact. hoping. ”