Tiger Woods didn’t head to Texas for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge as the PGA Tour resumed play after a 91-day break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s not going to South Carolina next week, either.
The game’s biggest star and reigning Masters champion didn’t commit to the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island by the 5 p.m. ET Friday deadline. The 15-time major champion didn’t publicly issue a statement.
Woods tied for 18th in 1999 in his lone appearance in the tournament. But speculation spread quickly earlier this week that Woods would restart his season in RBC Heritage after his yacht, Privacy, traveled up the Eastern Seaboard from North Palm Beach, Florida, to St. Simons Island, Georgia, just few hours south of Hilton Head Island.
But it’s a voyage that will not result in a start in the RBC Heritage.
Despite the absence of Woods, the field boasts a boatload of stars including the top 5 players in the world – No. 1 Rory McIlroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 4 Justin Thomas and No. 5 Dustin Johnson.
Rahm and Koepka will be making their tournament debuts. McIlroy played in the RBC Heritage just once, in 2009, when he tied for 58th. Thomas has made two starts in the tournament, tying for 11th in 2015 and finishing 75th in 2016. Johnson had made four starts, the two most recent coming the past two years when he tied for 16th and 28th.
Other top-10 players in the field are Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson. The star-power is further bolstered by 2014 winner Matt Kuchar, two-time winner Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner and Bubba Watson. As well, youngsters Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matt Wolff.
C.T. Pan will defend his title.
In all, 112 players in the field have won a PGA Tour title – the most winners in a field in any tournament since 2000.
Woods last played in The Match: Champions for Charity on May 24, where he and Peyton Manning defeated Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at The Medalist in Hobe Sound, Florida.
Woods last played on the PGA Tour on Feb. 16, when he shot a final-round 77 to finish in last place at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles. In his only other Tour start this year, he tied for ninth in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
The next tournament where Woods could make his first Tour start since February would be the Travelers Championship June 25-28 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Woods, seeking a record 83rd PGA Tour title, has never played in the tournament.
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