Trying to determine the playing schedule of one Tiger Woods was a regular, and often futile, exercise long before the COVID-19 global pandemic changed the world – and the PGA Tour’s – order.
But with the PGA Tour’s announcement Thursday of an ambitious schedule for the rest of 2020 – its restart coming June 11-14 at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas – fans naturally began to wonder when the reigning Masters champion would tee it up.
So here’s some Tiger guesswork.
Woods hasn’t played since Feb. 16 in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles, where his final-round 77 left him in 68th and last place among those who made the cut.
Citing a stiff back, he skipped the subsequent WGC-Mexico Championship, Honda Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship, where the season came to a halt after the first round. If play resumes mid-June – and that remains far from certain due to the continuing battle against the coronavirus – there would be 24 consecutive weeks of play heading into Thanksgiving.
Woods’ health and the major circles on his calendar – the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and the Open Championship – have always been the key points on the compass that determines the direction his schedule takes. He also refrains from playing three consecutive weeks and rarely competes the week before a major.
Thus, if the 15-time major champion, who is looking for a record 83rd PGA Tour title, is healthy, put down as locks the three major championships that remain on the schedule: the PGA Championship at Harding Park on Aug. 6-9 in San Francisco; the U.S. Open on Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York; and the Masters on Nov. 12-15 at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, where he’ll try to win a record-tying sixth green jacket.
Another lock would be the Hero World Challenge on Dec. 3-6 at Albany in the Bahamas. He hosts the tournament, and it benefits his foundation. It would be hard to imagine Woods not playing the Ryder Cup on Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, even with it being the week after the U.S. Open.
Just below lock status would be the Memorial on July 16-19 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. That’s Jack Nicklaus’ annual gathering that Woods hasn’t skipped when healthy and has won a record five times.
Put down at least one of the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs – the Northern Trust on Aug. 20-23 at TPC Boston and the BMW Championship the following week at Olympia Fields in Illinois.
If he qualifies, he’d likely play the Tour Championship on Sept. 3-7 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Now it gets tricky. Woods has won 18 WGC events – the next person in the win total is Dustin Johnson with six – and he places these events on the importance scale along with the Players Championship and FedExCup Playoffs just below the majors.
But the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, with four guaranteed rounds and tons of FedExCup and world rankings points, is the week before the PGA Championship. Would Woods play in the heat of Memphis and then fly to the cooler temps in San Francisco in back-to-back weeks? The take here slants toward no.
As for the WGC-HSBC Champions on Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Shanghai, Woods has only played it twice, the last time coming 10 years ago. So that’s a no.
In the 50-50 category is the Zozo Championship on Oct 22-25 in Chiba, Japan. Woods won his record-tying 82nd Tour title there last fall. The demands of traveling halfway across the globe and the protocols concerning COVID-19 – would he have to quarantine upon arrival? – suggest at best a 50 percent chance of playing.
Two other events fall in the 50-50 category – the first two of the hopeful restart to the season. With the sports world clamoring for any live action, Woods, who one has to believe would be chomping at the bit to knock off rust, might not pass on playing either the Charles Schwab Challenge or the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
But he’s only played each tournament once, in 1997 when he tied for fourth at Colonial and in 1999 when he tied for 18th at Harbour Town.
So, to complete this latest exercise of figuring out where Tiger will play next, here’s the forecast. Woods will play nine events – the Charles Schwab Challenge, the Memorial, PGA Championship, Northern Trust, Tour Championship, U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, Masters and Hero World Challenge.
But that’s just a hunch.