Tiger Woods aiming to compete more in 2024

Tiger Woods – who may or may not be ending his 19-year association with Nike, although the odds now seem that he will likely be wearing a new brand of clothing next year – will try to play one tournament a month next year, if his ongoing rehabilitation to ankle surgery allows him.

“I haven’t had the leg good enough where I’ve been able to compete and play a lot of rounds. I’ve had a lot of procedures over the years, and that’s just part of it,” acknowledged Woods after competing in the PNC Championship with teenage son Charlie.

He added: “I know if I can practice, I know I can still do it. I can still hit the golf ball. I can still chip. I can still putt. Granted, it’s also all about putting it all together for 72 holes. That’s the challenging part of it.”

Woods hopes to play in all four Majors next year – although his exemption into the US Open has expired, so he would require a special exemption from the USGA – along with The Players and a number of other selected tournaments. Woods only managed to play six events in 2023, and was twice forced to withdraw (from the Masters and the US PGA) due to injury.

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Of getting back to play again and of his body’s recovery, he added: “I think that a lot of things are aching a lot more than my ankle, which is the way it goes. I’ll be able to walk and play. We’ve been working out hard, been able to recover. We’ve been training every day, which is great.

“It’s been nice to knock off a lot of the rust and some of the doubt that I’ve had because quite frankly I haven’t hit a shot that counted in a long time . . . having to post a score and hit shots on the right number, and hit shots with consequence, it’s been nice.”

Thai prodigy Boriboonsub chalks up a hat-trick

Just call him David . . . because, to give him his full name, Denwit Boriboonsub looks set to make an ever-greater impact on the professional scene going forward,

The 19-year-old Thai golfer completed a remarkable hat-trick of tour wins when outduelling Henrik Stenson to lift the Saudi Open on Sunday, the teenager’s first win on the Asian Tour which sealed his status on that circuit for next season.

His hat-trick of wins – three in three weeks – started on the Asian Development Tour when he won the Aramco Invitational two weeks ago which was followed up with victory in the Thailand Open the next week.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling because it is incredible winning three weeks in a row, it’s like magic,” said Boriboonsub – who goes by the name David – after pocketing a cheque for $180,000 that elevated him to 21st (from 133rd at the start of the week) on the final Asian Tour order of merit.

He moved to 427th in the updated official world rankings, having been 772nd just a month ago.

Word of Mouth

“Golf is the strangest thing. The last five weeks, I’ve not done a lot. I’ve played a few rounds and when I got to Leopard Creek I was working on a small little thing. I started hitting it really good and I know I’m putting well and then just carried on with that momentum” – Louis Oosthuizen on finding his form, adding the Mauritius Open to his Alfred Dunhill Championship success for back-to-back wins on the DP World Tour.

By the Numbers: 4

Golf Ireland have named four players to travel to the South American Amateur Open Championship to be held in Bogotá, Columbia, on January 11th-14th: Luke O’Neill (Connemara), Paul Conroy (Enniscorthy), Valerie Clancy (Killarney) and Anna Dawson (Tramore).

On this day: December 19th, 1993

Larry Mize wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth when he got a late place in the field for the Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship in Montego Bay in Jamaica.

The American only got a spot in the limited 28-player field after The Open champion Greg Norman declined his invitation.

What Mize delivered was a masterclass, as he finished 10 strokes clear of runner-up Fred Couples in a display which he observed: “That’s as good as I’ve ever played. The other guys will kill me if I don’t say that.”

Mize compiled rounds of 67-66-68-65 for a total of 266 on the Tryall course which earned him an early Christmas present of $550,000.

Afterwards, Mize said it would probably be a good idea to sent a thank-you letter to Norman for getting a place in the field on the back of the Australian’s withdrawal.

“It’s a nice problem to have, I’ll think of something,” said Mize.

X-Twitter Twaddle

If @Louis57TM after winning back to back @DPWorldTour is jumping to 133 in the @OWGRltd ... I think we have a problem – Pablo Larrazabal on Oosthuizen only moving up 64 places from 197th to 133rd in the official world rankings for his second win in two weeks.

A fun week for sure and great way to start Ciarán off in golf. Hopefully he’ll catch the bug and we’ll be back for many years – Pádraig Harrington on teaming up with his teenage son in the PNC Championship in Florida.

Interesting finish to the year . . . lost ball up a palm tree on the 72nd hole today . . . pretty much sums up the year that was. – Scott Hend on an inauspicious finish to his season in the Saudi Open, where the Aussie finished tied-42nd.

In the Bag: Bernhard Langer (PNC Championship)

Driver: Ping G400

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus

Hybrids: Adams Idea Pro (18 & 22 degrees)

Irons: Tour Edge Exotics CBX (4-6), Tour Edge Exotics Pro 723 (7-PW)

Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX (56 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design Prototype (60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Long

Ball: Titleist ProV1x

Know the Rules

Q: Is it a rule that you must carry 14 clubs in your bag for a round of golf?

A: You can carry less than 14 clubs in your bag if you wish. However, it is a breach of the rules of golf if you carry more than 14: in strokeplay, a player is penalised two shots for each hole that they carried more than 14 clubs, up to a maximum of four penalty strokes; in matchplay, a player will lose the hole if found to be carrying more than 14 clubs. Like in strokeplay, there is a limit to the overall penalty with a maximum of two lost holes in matchplay.