Tiger Woods was pleased with his final practice round before returning to competition after a three-month injury layoff, saying on Wednesday he was still rusty but his back felt fine.
"Generally it feels good," Woods said. "I hit some loose shots today but I also hit some really good ones. Back feels great which is a really good sign."
Woods, continuing to undergo therapy, played a morning pro-am round ahead of his start at the US PGA National at Congressional Country Club.
The former world No.1 has not played a competitive round since March 9 following back surgery to ease a pinched nerve, but hopes to test his game at Congressional ahead of next month's British Open.
"A little bit rusty but really managed my way around this golf course," Woods said. "This golf course is playing tough. The guys aren't going to go really low here.
"Just got to keep it in front of me and, obviously, put the ball in the right spots on these greens because, if you're in the wrong spots, it's an unfortunately tough task to make birdies."
Woods has not claimed a major since the 2008 US Open.
He won five tour titles last year, leaving him three shy of matching Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA victories.
The 38-year-old American, fifth in the world rankings, tees off Thursday (Friday AEST) alongside Australian Jason Day and US star Jordan Spieth on the 10th hole.
"The course is drying out pretty good," Woods said. "The ball started running. The course was playing really long."
Woods blasted out of uneven lies and deep rough several times, something he said was not a major re-injury issue for his back after having tested it in such situations.
"I tried it out last week and didn't have any problem."
South African Ernie Els, who won one of his two US Open titles at Congressional, will play alongside Justin Rose of England and American Keegan Bradley in the first two rounds.
Defending champion Bill Haas tees off alongside fellow American Jason Dufner, last year's PGA Championship winner, and South Korea's KJ Choi, but Haas knows most eyes will be on Woods.
"The vibe generally is we're all excited to see him play well and we all want to beat him, because nobody cares if they beat me - they want to beat Tiger.
"We want him to play healthy and we want him to contend in majors because he's the lifeline of our tour and the reason everyone gets excited to watch."
Share
