Tiger Woods ‘all business’ in practice round at site of 2022 PGA Championship, says course director

Tiger Woods’ scouting trip to Southern Hills Country Club ahead of the 2022 PGA Championship was not without company last Thursday. Lost in the helicopter fly-overs, videos from outside property lines and speculation of Woods’ participation in the year’s second major championship was Southern Hills’ director of golf, Cary Cozby.

It was Cozby, not caddie Joe LaCava — Woods’ right-hand man for the last decade — who manned the bag for Tiger during his brief trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cozby, a life-long Woods fan, was in lock step with the 46-year-old as he surveyed the property, possible pin locations and the changes made to the golf course after a restoration effort led by Gil Hanse in 2018.

“Everything is so smooth with him now. His rhythm is great, he hit it straight and plenty far, he pitched and putted it great,” Cozby told Golf Oklahoma’s Ken MacLeod. “I know guys can hit it past him now, but watching him work was amazing. He’s so meticulous, detailed and immersed in what he’s doing. He was very inquisitive on lines and the best angles.”

Cozby added: “I think he can contend. He’s like Michael Jordan late in his career, playing defense and hitting jump shots. Whoever wins here is going to have to be a great chipper and he is still that.”

The winner of the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Woods has not returned to competition since his gutsy showing at the 2022 Masters in early April. Losing steam over the weekend at Augusta National and ultimately finishing 47th, Woods appears determined to put his best foot forward for the PGA Championship in two weeks.

“Unless he has a setback of some kind, he’s playing,” Cozby said. “This trip was all business.”