ROCHESTER, N.Y. - For all the talk about the driver he uses and his inability to hit the ball as far as he would like, Tiger Woods points to another part of his game that has held him back in the major championships - putting.
"I really haven't gotten any positive momentum going for a sustained period of time in the majors this year," Woods said Tuesday at Oak Hill Country Club, site of the 85th PGA Championship, which begins Thursday. "It's been maybe one round here or six holes there where I get really hot. When I won those majors, I played really well for the entire week, from the very get-go."
Though Woods has won four PGA Tour events and is second to Davis Love on the money list with more than $4.8-million, it is his failings in the majors that have gotten the most attention. Last month at the British Open, Woods let an excellent opportunity pass, making bogey at two of the last four holes and finishing two behind winner Ben Curtis.
The world's No. 1 golfer is bidding to join Walter Hagen as the only players to win a major in five consecutive seasons.
Woods won seven of 11 majors from the 1999 PGA Championship through the 2002 U.S. Open, including four in a row starting at the 2000 U.S. Open, where he won by 15 shots.
"If you look at anyone who wins, you're going to putt well," said Woods, who has four-putted a green in consecutive majors. "If you look back where it all started at the (2000) U.S. Open, look how many putts I made inside of 10 feet. They weren't going in on the sides. I was pouring them right in the middle."
PRESIDENT'S CUP PUSH: This is the final week for earning a place on the two President's Cup teams and the race is very close. Stuart Appleby holds the 10th and final automatic spot on the International side with an official World Golf Ranking of 2.74 points. K.J. Choi, however, is in 11th (2.73). On the U.S. side, which uses money earned, Charles Howell is 10th with 6,400,786 points (one point per $1 earned) with Bob Estes in 11th (6,336,600).
BABY ALERT: Ireland's Padraig Harrington is in a tough spot this week. His wife, Caroline, is expecting their first child, which is due Monday.
"The doctor was of the opinion that if anything, it will go late," Harrington said. "So there was no point in waiting at home. We are taking a slight chance, obviously. ... I can't make that decision until it happens."
AROUND THE PGA: John Jacobs, 57, who won the PGA Senior Championship this year, earned a spot in the PGA Championship field with that victory. It is his first PGA Tour event since the 1989 Las Vegas Invitational. ... Two-time PGA champion Larry Nelson (1981, '87) withdrew due to a hip injury and was replaced by Billy Andrade.
