After a dominating performance in last week's World Golf Champion - Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods feels ready for Thursday's PGA Champion - the last golf major tournament of the year - as he embarks on his quest to win his 15th major career victory.
"This year has been a great year so far for me," said Woods, who has five tournament victories this year, though he has yet to win a major this year - finishing fourth at The Masters and sixth at the Open Championship. "The frustrating part is I've been there and didn't win two of the tournaments I was right there in. One, I hit a flagstick and was leading the tournament and had a penalty. That was a tough round. I put myself there with a chance on Sunday and didn't get it done. Same thing with the [British] Open."
Woods has been taking practice rounds at Oak Hill Country Club - site of the PGA Championship - getting acclimated to the course, playing two nine-hole practice rounds as he prepares to attempt to win his first major since 2008.
"I liked it when I played here [at the PGA] in '03," said Woods. "It's a fantastic golf course. It's tough. It's right in front of you. There aren't surprises. You just have to strike it well."
Woods feels that the course is playing fast and will dictate the strategy he and the other 155 players will implement over the weekend.
"The golf course is in fantastic shape," said Woods after one of his nine-hole practice rounds. "It's dry now, it's got some speed to it, and the rough is certainly up, and it's clumpy. It's imperative to hit the ball in the fairways and hit the ball on the greens, because it's going to be tough to get up-and-down."