AAGD STAFF
(April 28, 2018) The tournament is the PGA Tour’s flagship event and Tiger previously won it two years ago. Last year, due to an injury he missed it. Tiger tweeted his intentions to compete last Friday.
Following a disappointing T-17 outcome at the Masters, from which he sustained a wrist injury on that Sunday, fans were speculating if he would, in fact, play in the near future. The tongue-wrangling finally stopped after Woods tweeted out his plan to compete in the Players Championship—a tournament whereby he has not necessarily always been at his best.
Of concern is the fact that, should Woods not play in any more tournaments, he may not be capable of playing anymore this season. It’s something that is not as complicated as it sounds, but possible.
For the record, a 2013 victory that he won in 2001, during his 16 career appearances at the tournament, included are just three other top-10 finishes – far from his stride for most events.
May 7-10 are the dates for this year’s competition. Everyone will be watching and waiting, to see how Woods performs.
Wood’s Pre-U.S. Open Prep
Before playing in the U.S. Open, Woods is anticipated to have five official PGA Tour starts to his credit. His fewest starts on tour prior to the Open, since 1997:
U.S. OPEN FINISH
2010 4 T-4th
2008 5 Win
2009 7 T-6th
2006 7 Missed cut
2003 7 T-20th
“Not going to be for a while,” he said then of his next start. “I have a little time off, and go back to the drawing board, work on it again, and refine what I’m doing. I really like what I’m doing; I’ve got my distance back and everything is good.”
Wood’s tweet announcement on last Friday comes on the heels of Jack Nicklaus’ disclosure (earlier this week) that Woods said he will compete in Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament, taking place four weeks after the Players. If so, then officially, Woods has just these two tournaments on his schedule prior to the U.S. Open: June 18 at Chambers Bay in Washington state.
To sum things up, this is all good news for a 14-time major champion, who, earlier this year, took off nine-weeks to recover from other injuries. Recollect the high scores he posted at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Farmers Insurance Open.
Woods remains eligible for each of the three remaining major championships, but he did not qualify for next week’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play and, he is not currently qualified for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. On top of that, he is not inside the necessary number required to compete in the season-ending FedEx Cup, just a short four months away.
