Return of Tiger Still Unclear

Tiger Woods is confident he is making progress, but remains cautious over setting any date for a potential competitive return to the golf course.

The former world number one has not played since finishing joint 10th in the Wyndham Championship last year, after which he underwent two back operations in the space of six weeks.

Last month Woods, a 14-time major winner, played five holes with former Open and Masters champion Mark O’Meara at the official opening of the course he designed at Bluejack National Golf Club, and has taken part in casual games at Medalist, a club near his Florida home.

However, the 40-year-old American found it tough going on Monday when hitting three successive balls into the water as he took part in a ceremonial hole-in-one competition on the 102-yard 10th tee at the media day for the upcoming Quicken Loans National, which his foundation hosts at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

Woods, now down to 524 in the rankings, faced the familiar question about his fitness update at the event.

“That’s the overriding question I keep hearing, when are you coming back, when are you playing? I hear it all the time, and if I knew, I would tell you, because it’d be fun to know, it would be nice to know that I am actually going to be playing on such and such a date, but I don’t know,” he said, in a press conference broadcast by www.pgatour.com.

Woods has registered for the US Open at Oakmont in June, although that was something he had to do ahead of the deadline to keep his options open.

“I have been practising at home, and I am progressing nicely, I am hoping to play (again soon),” Woods added.

“I am still trying to get stronger, trying to get more pliable.

“I am hitting the ball better and everything about my game is coming around.

“Now it’s just a matter of being more consistent with it, and then being able to do that not only at home against the boys at Medalist and trying to take their cash — trying to come out here and doing it against the best players in the world is a completely different deal.”

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Rory Furious on Friday

Rory McIlroy reflected on a day of missed opportunities after settling for a second consecutive 71 at the 97th PGA Championship, while Jordan Spieth went four shots better at the halfway stage.

The defending champion was determined to take advantage of the benign early conditions at Whistling Straits and make strides up the leaderboard, but he managed only pars at his first six holes before finally getting a birdie putt to drop at the 16th.

McIlroy was then furious with himself for scrapping his way to a double-bogey six at the 18th, but he got both shots back with one shot at the long second as he chipped in for a galvanising eagle.

He holed from eight feet for birdie at the sixth, but he bogeyed the next after pulling his tee shot in greenside rough before McIlroy parred in to remain two under for the tournament.

On a day when Japan's Hiroshi Iwata equalled the lowest score in major history with a 63 and playing partner Jordan Spieth shot 67, McIlroy admitted his short-game was not up to scratch following his seven-week lay-off with an ankle injury.

"I felt like tee to green I hit the ball pretty well, I'm probably just not as sharp with the short game as I would like to be," the world No 1 said. "It was good to get the two shots back that I dropped on 18 and I gave myself good chances on the third and fifth, but did not take them.

"There's plenty of chances out there and if I can convert a few hopefully there is a low score in me.

"I felt like I played better than what the score reflected, so I'm a little bit annoyed. I felt like I should have got that ball up and down on seven and then I had a great chance on eight for birdie and didn't take that. A couple of days in a row where I haven't finished the round of golf the way I wanted to.

"I don't know if it's rust or I just didn't putt well, so maybe just work on that a little bit before I tee off tomorrow and it would be great to hole a few more putts, because I feel like I'm giving myself plenty of chances.

"Probably one of the most surprising things about yesterday is how quickly I got back into the mindset of tournament golf and being aggressive. That hasn't really been an issue, it's just being a bit more efficient, whenever you give yourself chances, take them, and be able to get it up and down when you put yourself out of position."

McIlroy now has his work cut out to hang onto his world No 1 ranking ahead of Spieth, who enjoyed a run of four birdies in six holes mid-round as he moved smoothly to six under for the tournament.

The highlight of Spieth's round was a superb bunker escape that found the hole for an unlikely birdie at the 18th, and he was delighted with another good day's work in his bid to become only the third player in history to win three majors in a year.

"We are freerolling now," Spieth joked after making the cut in the tournament for the first time at the third attempt. "I'm just happy to be back in contention and position. If I'd had a bit of a lull today it would have been too hard to make up.

"With a couple of chip-ins for the week and really smart course management and good speed control, we have been able to hold ourselves in there. But in order to keep shooting the rounds like today, I'm going to need to drive the ball a little bit better and make a few more putts, which are really the two keys for me this weekend, because it's just going to get more challenging with pin locations and firmness of greens."

On his holed bunker shot for birdie at 18, Spieth's 16th chip-in of the season, he added: "It's arguably the best of the year given the position it was in. It was a great spark to get things going, get a little confidence, a little pep in my step.

"I feel good. I've got a chance to win a major championship. Just thinking about that gets you enough adrenaline that there won't be any issues. I noticed last year for the first time I felt fatigue and felt like I had overworked and kind of burned out the end of the year, as we had to go through the four play-off events without a break and then into the Ryder Cup.

"This year I've done a better job of when I take time off, when you limit the practice coming back, how to prepare. As far as mentally in this position, the way the year's gone, I approach each event as if it's the only event of the year when I stand on the first tee. That gets me through it.

"I'm sure at the end of this year, it will be nice to sit back and hang the clubs up for a couple weeks, but until then we have got a lot to play for."

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Spieth Relishes Rory Return

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Jordan Spieth is relishing the prospect of Rory McIlroy returning from injury in time for next week's US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Spieth would have replaced McIlroy at the top of the world rankings with victory at this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but finished in a tie for 10th despite posting a four-under 66 during the final round.

The Masters and US Open champion has been grouped with the world No 1 for the first two rounds at Whistling Straits, with Spieth delighted that McIlroy appears set to return from injury in time to defend his title. 

"It's going to be great," Spieth told Sky Sports 4. "I'm very, very happy that he is back, everybody is. He certainly takes the interest in the game to a different level.

"It will be cool to battle it out with him hopefully for the No 1 spot if it comes down to Sunday. I am certainly ready to be in that position and hopefully we can do so."

McIlroy played full practice rounds on Saturday and Sunday at Whistling Straits, telling reporters that his rehabilitated left ankle was a “non-issue”.

"Obviously, getting around a golf course like this, playing 18 holes, it felt fine," McIlroy told the Golf Channel. "I've come a long way in five weeks. This has been the five-week mark today from when I did it."

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Clarke Supports Amigo Garcia

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Darren Clarke has jumped to the defence of Sergio Garcia after Sir Nick Faldo criticised the Spaniard for his efforts at the 2008 Ryder Cup.

Faldo, captain of the defeated European team six years ago at Valhalla, is commentating on the Golf Channel this week and described on Friday Garcia's performance had been "useless" and that he had a bad attitude.

The British six-times major winner later admitted his words had been harsh and was a throw-away comment but Clarke, along with European team-mates Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood, were quick to defend Garcia's reputation.

Clarke, who has appeared in seven Ryder Cups – five times as a player and twice as a vice-captain, is a co-commentator for Sky Sports at Gleneagles, said: "I think is was a very harsh comment from Nick Faldo.

"When you go into a team room as captain or player it would be very difficult to find a more passionate person than Sergio Garcia. Like Ian Poulter, he lives and breathes for the Ryder Cup. He's a very proud man.

"We all have off days in the Ryder Cup. That's what happens and nobody plays great all the time. Maybe he did have a bad day but it was a harsh comment."

Garcia, paired with world No. 1 Rory McIlroy in the fourballs and foursomes, surged back on Friday afternoon from a defeat by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley by helping to secure the last two holes and halve their encounter with Jimmy Walker and Ricky Fowler.

The 34-year-old Spanish world No. 3 remarkably found the green from the rough on the 18th to finish off with a final birdie blitz to steer the Europeans to an overnight 5-3 lead on day one.

When asked about Faldo's words on Friday night, Garcia seemed a little stunned and said: "That's unfortunate. I guess he doesn't feel European. That's the only thing I can think of. There's a lot of things I could say about Nick Faldo, but I'm not going to put myself down to his level."

Westwood also responded to Faldo's comments by adding: "Let's take the euphoria we have from today and just crush it."

McDowell stated that Westwood and Garcia were dropped controversially for the first time in their Ryder Cup careers in the defeat at Valhalla in 2008.

The Northern Irishman said: "You've got one of the best Ryder Cup pairings of all time being sat down on a Saturday afternoon of a Ryder Cup that we go on to lose. I'd say Sergio was fairly useless that afternoon, yeah. Because he wasn't able to play. So – I agree!"

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New Family on Horizon for GMAC

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Graeme McDowell will sit out the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston after becoming a father on Monday.

The Northern Irishman's wife Kristin underwent a planned cesarean and 35-year-old McDowell duly tweeted about his new arrival.

He wrote: "Thanks so much for all the well wishes. Mum and baby girl are happy and healthy. Happiest moment of my life hands down. #daddy #love."

Having completed his final round at the BMW Championship on Sunday, McDowell told the Golf Channel: "My caddie has been telling me all year 'You're not going to want to go to Boston', so I've decided to give myself the weekend off and just be with the family. Nice to be able to plan it that way."

By missing Friday's Deutsche Bank, McDowell will not be able to advance his current FedEx Cup standing of 40th, while he also has a Ryder Cup slot to protect on the world points list.

McDowell has also announced he is leaving Horizon Sports Managements at the end of the 2014 season to look after his own commercial affairs.

His compatriot Rory McIlroy left Horizon last year and remains in dispute with the company.

McDowell admitted before The Open that the row had "been a strain on our relationship" but insisted he would happily renew his Ryder Cup pairing with McIlroy at Gleneagles next month.

Explaining his own departure from Horizon, he said: "I am at a stage in my life where it feels right to move on to the next phase of my career - both in golf and business.

"I'm now involved with a growing number of exciting business ventures, many of which Horizon helped me establish, and as the landscape evolves so must I."

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It was unfortunate - Jack Nicklaus

"He shouldn't have walked off the golf course. I think that was unfortunate, because if he had thought about it for five minutes, he wouldn't have done it," Nicklaus, who won a record 18 major titles, told the Golf Channel.

McIlroy has played just four full professional rounds in three months, missing the cut in the Abu Dhabi Championship in January and suffering a surprise first-round exit in the WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship last week in Arizona.

Nicklaus said he suspected McIlroy's rash decision was caused by the impact of that slow start.

"He's a good kid, he's a sharp kid and I just think he is so frustrated with what is happening and the way he has played for last month or so that it just got to him.

"That would be my assessment. I may be speaking out of school. I really don't know, I haven't talked to him," he added.

Nicklaus was dismissive of the idea that McIlroy's change of clubs from Titleist to Nike might be behind his poor form.

The American said he played with different equipment in the United States, England and Australia and that McIlroy would cope with the adjustment.

"I went back and forth with all those different balls and clubs and frankly you have just got to learn to deal with it. Not everything is perfect. His talent is so much greater and so much bigger influence on his golf game than his clubs, he could play with anything," Nicklaus said.

The American said he frequently talked to McIlroy and had a chat with him just before the start of this week's tournament.

"I talked to him on Monday. We talked, I said ‘don't worry about your golf clubs, that will come around, you are too good a talent, just go and play golf'.

"I am sure that Nike will work with him to make sure he will get what he needs to get. He will be fine. When the Masters rolls around Rory McIlroy is going to be playing just fine.

"I know that Rory is such a good player, a talented player, a good kid and he wants to do right."

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Where are they Now? - David Feherty

The 2012 Masters passes with David Feherty holding a place on CBS team for their tournament - alongside Sir Nick Faldo, Jim Nantz, Peter Osterhuis and Ian Baker Finch. The Augusta National Golf Club has consistently chosen CBS as its U.S. broadcast partner, it has done so on successive one-year contracts. 

Although it is widely held that CBS allows Augusta National greater control over the content of the broadcast in order to maintain future rights, the club insists it makes no demands in return.

However there are some curious items in the coverage as the gallery is referred to as "patrons" rather than spectators or fans. They also use the term "second cut" instead of "rough". 

In the past commentators who have been deemed not to have acted with the decorum expected by the club have been removed, notably Jack Whitaker and analyst Gary McCord. 

David Feherty was in full form on Sunday, starting with his unusual call of Oosthuizen's double-eagle at the second hole: "This one could be very nice...could be very nice...oh, come to papa, yes!"

There was no television - and therefore no commentary - when Gene Sarazen made his double-eagle at 15 in the 1935 Masters. But even if there had there been, it is safe to say that it would not have resembled Feherty's description - or come close.

Feherty was born in Bangor, Northern Ireland and spent most of his playing career in Europe, where he won five times and finished in the top ten of the European Tour's Order of Merit twice, coming tenth in 1989 and eighth in 1990. 

He spent 1994 and 1995 playing mainly on the PGA Tour, and the best result on the tour was a second place finish at the 1994 New England Classic. His combined career prize money exceeded $3 million. 

Feherty represented Ireland in international competition including captaining the victorious 1990 Alfred Dunhill Cup team. Feherty played for Europe on the 1991 Ryder Cup team.

In 1997, Feherty retired from both the European and PGA Tour and joined CBS Sports as an on-course reporter and golf analyst. Feherty is a contributor to Golf Magazine and has his own column in the back of the magazine called Sidespin. He has also published a number of books A Nasty Bit of Rough, Somewhere in Ireland a Village Is Missing an Idiot, An Idiot for All Seasons, and David Feherty's Totally Subjective History of the Ryder Cup.

Feherty lives with his wife, Anita and five children in Dallas, Texas.

He appears in advertisements for the Cobra golf company, showing off his trampolining and cheer leading skills in the advert.

In 2008, Feherty was hit by a truck, while cycling suffering three broken ribs, which punctured his lung and was hospitalised for a few days with a tube in his chest. He resumed his broadcast duties at the 2008 Masters.

Never far from controversy, Feherty was one of five writers to comment on George W. Bush's move to Dallas using the article to express his support of Bush and to speak on politics. At the time it caused CBS to distance themselves from Feherty's comments.

European Tour wins 

1986 Italian Open

1986 Bell's Scottish Open

1989 BMW International Open

1991 Credit Lyonnais Cannes Open

1992 Iberia Madrid Open

Irish wins 

1980 Irish National PGA Championship

1982 Irish National PGA Championship

Other wins

1984 ICL International (South Africa)

1988 South African PGA Championship

1992 Bell's Cup (South Africa)

Ryder Cup 1991

Record: 3 matches, 1.5 points 

Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1990 (winners)

Four Tours World Championship: 1990, 1991 (winners)

Fact File

Date of Birth : August 13th 1958

Birthplace: Bangor, Co. Down

Turned Professional: 1976

Original Club : Balmoral Golf Club