Decisions needed to be made as to how to play the 291-yard, par-4 fifth hole at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J., site of this weekend’s The Barclays. A majority of the Tour pros were using their driver to reach the small green, including Tiger Woods on Thursday. A day later, however, the pin was at the front. This time, Woods pulled the Tiger-shaped headcover off his driver, but played it safe and laid up in the fairway.
“Five was a tough tee shot for me because i had to take some off of it and hit it into the air,” Woods said. “That’s not an easy shot for me to do with the driver.”
Woods’ driver shot on Thursday landed 12 feet from the pin, but he three-putted to save par. Friday, Woods three-putted again; this time for a bogey.
“I didn’t feel comfortable (going for it) so I laid up and trusted my wedge game,” Woods said. “Unfortunately I three putted.”
The third of those putts was an easy tap in that Woods rushed, knocking it two feet past the hole creating a harder shot than the one prior.
“More than anything, I didn’t putt well,” he said. “I just could not get my speed right. When you have greens like this, you have to get the ball rolling quickly and I wasn’t doing that.”
Woods finished the day +2, bringing his two-day total to -4, three behind the leaders. He started the day on the back nine, racking up two birdies. The front nine, however, was a different story as he wrote four bogeys onto his scorecard. Woods wasn’t the only one who felt the greens were challenging.
“The later you go in the day, because they’re soft, they do get bumpy,” Stewart Cink said. “That’s going to be an obstacle that the players this afternoon and the players in the later groups this weekend will have to face.”
“Anywhere you don’t get a good tee shot you’re putting yourself under pressure,” Paraig Harrington said.
Wet weather earlier in the week left the fairways and greens soft and moist. Warm, humid weather came in Thursday and the course began to dry.
“It dried out but not to the extent that the ball was rolling. The ball didn’t pick up the amount of mud we thought it was going to,” said Cink, who had a share of the lead at -7 after two days. “That had a lot of players scared early on and you saw a lot of players hovering around even par.
“Once everybody got comfortable and the moisture started to evaporate a little bit from the fairways then I think the players got comfortable and took dead aim a little bit more.”
Cink and Jason Day weren’t the only ones in contention at the top of the leaderboard with -7s. So was Kevin Streelman, a 31-year-old from Chicago. Streelman has strong ties to Ridgewood Country Club. His parents lived in Midland Park and Glen Rock for a majority of their lives. His father’s parents are also buried at George Washington Memorial Park, which borders the seventh hole.
Streelman finished in fourth place at the 2008 Barclays, which was also held at Ridgewood. He says this year he’ll have more family and friends in attendance than any tournament he’s ever been in. Streelman doesn’t think that adds any pressure to his performance.
“No, I don’t think pressure,” he said. “There’s so much love and support that it’s very encouraging. I love it.”
While Streelman will have a large following throughout the weekend, the majority of fans will be cheering for Woods. They’ll be holding out hope to see his first fist pump of the year Sunday evening on eighteen.
The Barclays continues Saturday and Sunday. Follow Scott Stanchak on Twitter (@ScottStanchak) as he brings you live coverage of the final round on Sunday.
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