Tiger Woods has admitted that he struggled to get to grips with the length of Valhalla after carding a one-over-par opening round of the PGA Championship.
Woods won the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla after defeating Bob May in a playoff.
The course also hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup as well as the 2014 PGA Championship, which was won by Rory McIlroy.
It has changed drastically since Woods’ triumph 24 years ago with the course almost 500 yards longer.
Woods is still able to hit the ball a long way, but he’s no longer one of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour.
He ranked 53rd for average driving distance at the 2024 Masters with Valhalla reliant on plenty of long tee shots to leave them with chances to score well with their approach shots.
That cost him on the 15th hole as Woods missed left into the rough that forced him to lay up before he two-putted for bogey.
But it wasn’t only off the tee where Woods’ accuracy and length was hampering him as he battled to finish one-over-par.
Woods appeared to have done enough heading into the final few holes to finish in the red before a costly error in the 169-yard par-three saw him smash his birdie putt 10 feet past the hole.
Another disaster followed at the last after back-to-back three-putt bogeys to leave him 10 off the lead after Xander Schauffele’s record-breaking round of 62.
Woods conceded the round felt like a “grind” afterwards and hinted at some regret at not finishing with a better score.
He said: “I struggled with the speed of the greens today.
“I should have been under par for the day but I am over par and we got a long way to go.”
When asked how he felt the course was different to when he won back in 2000, Woods added: “It is a big-boy golf course now.
“I hit a lot of two irons that week and there aren’t a whole lot of two irons this week.
“It is playing a little bit shorter today because it’s hotter. The ball was travelling a little bit.
“But it’s still a little bit wet out there today. We had a bit of mud on a few balls.
“Overall, it’s just a lot bigger golf course or maybe I have just gotten shorter!”
Woods will be hoping to improve on Friday to make the cut and play into the weekend.
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Source: New York Post
