Tag: Honda Classic 2020

Tommy Fleetwood leads British invasion at Honda Classic

Tommy Fleetwood is one of three Brits among the top four contenders after 54 holes of the Honda Classic. He leads by 1 after shooting 67.

The leaderboard through 54 holes at the Honda Classic would have sent Paul Revere into a frenzy.

There are three Englishman among the top four contenders, led by Tommy Fleetwood, who birdied four of the final six holes to shoot 3-under 67 and grab his first 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.

Fleetwood, 29, leads American Brendan Steele, who shot 71, by one stroke at 5-under 205 at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Champion course at PGA National Resort & Spa. He leads fellow Brits Lee Westwood and Luke Donald by two.

“It’s just an all-around very, very difficult test, and it tests everyone,” Fleetwood said of the layout. “It tests every part of your game.”

More: Photos | Updates | Leaderboard

The wind blew and the greens got crusty and the course played so tough that Fleetwood was the only player in the final eight twosomes under par in the third round. Only 13 players are under par through 54 holes.

“It feels like a major championship toughness-wise,” local product Daniel Berger said after shooting 69.

Or as NBC commentator David Feherty put it, as only he can, “This golf course is kicking you know what.”

Fleetwood kicked back with a ferocious finish as his putter warmed up. Winner of five titles on the European Tour and making his 64th career PGA Tour start, Fleetwood has four runner-ups, including at last year’s Open Championship, and 16 top-10 finishes, but nary a win to show for it on U.S. soil. He’s ranked No. 12 in the world and is the highest ranked player without a victory on the PGA Tour. Fleetwood said there’s nothing he’d like more than to nab that first Tour title on Sunday.

“For a guy who has never won, he sure looks ready,” NBC’s Paul Azinger said.

Fleetwood said he hadn’t made many mid-range putts this week, but his putter came alive beginning at No. 13, where he canned a 14-foot birdie. One hole later, he was simply trying to lag one close from 45 feet and it dripped in for another birdie. He gave a stroke back at 15, but called the 11-foot bogey putt he holed crucial to keeping the momentum of his round going. On 17, he drilled another bomb, this time a 49-footer from the fringe for birdie, and he capped the day with a two-putt birdie at 18, after becoming just the seventh player to reach the 18th hole in two on Saturday.

“I sort of fancied that one, but it’s always nice to pull it off when you’re trying,” Fleetwood said of his 258-yard cut 5-wood from a downslope.

Steele, the 36-hole leader, jumped out of the gates with birdies on two of his first three holes, but made back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5 then 10 and 11 to fall out of the lead. He drained a 12-foot birdie at 17 to climb within one stroke heading into Sunday and will play in his second final group of the season (Sony Open in Hawaii).

Westwood from Worksop, who spent a combined 22 weeks as World No. 1 in 2010-11, and Donald from Hemel Hempstead, and World No. 1 in 2011-12 for a combined 56 weeks, both had up-and-down days but salvaged rounds of 1-over 71 to remain in the hunt.

“I didn’t have my A-game today, struggled with my swing a little bit. But I didn’t do too much damage,” Westwood told Golf Channel after the round. “I don’t feel like two shots [deficit] is much around this golf course. My confidence levels are high. The good thing is I’m driving the ball well.”

Berger is joined at 2 under by South Korea’s Sungjae Im and South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel.

Canadian Mackenzie Hughes made the biggest move of the day. After making the cut on the number, he shot 4-under 66 and improved 51 spots into a tie for eighth at 1 under with a group that includes former Honda champions Russell Henley and Rory Sabbatini.

“Anything under par is pretty good,” said Schwartzel, the former Masters champion who missed nine months last season with a wrist injury and shot even-par 70. “As you can tell by the scores, no one is really going anywhere, and I don’t really see anything different happening tomorrow.”

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Brooks Koepka to miss cut at Honda Classic

Brooks Koepka shot his second straight 74 and will miss the cut at his hometown event.

Brooks Koepka has the weekend off after shooting a second consecutive 74 at the Honda Classic to miss the cut.

It’s been a struggle for Koepka, world No. 3 and a four-time major winner, who required a stem cell procedure on his left knee late last year and skipped the Presidents Cup in December.

Since the surgery, Koepka has missed the cut at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, withdrew from the CJ Cup, finished T-34 and T-17 at European Tour events in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia and recorded a T-43 at the Genesis Invitational. But Koepka said not to read anything into his recent struggles.

“Yeah, everything is good. No complaints. It has nothing to do with my knee,” he said.

To hear Koepka tell it, despite making just one birdie on Friday and signing for three double bogeys and a triple over 36 holes at PGA National, his tee-to-green game is just fine, thank you very much, but his putter has been letting him down.

“I struck it really well,” Koepka said. “Really pleased with how I’m hitting it. I just haven’t putted well, and every time I have missed one, I’ve hit some good shots, but I just end up in the worst place possible. It is very easy out here to turn a decent round into what can be a little bit of a disaster.”

Koepka won’t have to stew over missing a cut at his hometown event for long. He is scheduled to play the next four weeks in a row in an effort to get plenty of reps leading into the Masters.

“I’ll be at Bay Hill. You’re going to see me at Bay Hill,” he said.

The question is will he have a different putting grip next time he tees it up? Koepka said his putter has given him trouble since late last year, and he tried changing putter grips.

“It feels great, and I struck it really well on the putting green, but then it’s another thing when the gun goes off,” Koepa said. “I think every golfer kind of knows that, and you can feel a little bit different.”

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Honda Classic: Round 2 tee times, TV info

Everything you need to know for the second round of the Honda Classic at PGA National.

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After a gusty opening day at PGA National, a pair of players share the Honda Classic lead with rounds of 4-under 66. High winds in South Florida certainly didn’t make for an easy day, but Tom Lewis and Harris English managed to avoid the big numbers for the lead.

As it turns out, both of those men are playing the Honda on a sponsor’s invite. This week’s event, the 21st of the 2019-20 season, also features six of the world’s top-20 players. That list is highlighted by No. 2 Brooks Koepka, No. 12 Tommy Fleetwood and No. 13 Justin Rose, but none of those men fared particularly well in the first round. Fleetwood, at even, leads the trio at T-23.

Check out Friday’s second-round tee times and TV viewing info below.

Round 2 – Honda Classic

1st Tee – Friday

Tee Time Players
6:45 a.m. Robert Streb, Beau Hossler, Mark Hubbard
6:55 a.m. D.J. Trahan, Tom Hoge, Talor Gooch
7:05 a.m. Danny Lee, David Hearn, Scott Harrington
7:15 a.m. Kevin Tway, Grayson Murray, Daniel Berger
7:25 a.m. J.T. Poston, Ted Potter, Jr., Jimmy Walker
7:35 a.m. Tyler Duncan, Patton Kizzire, Jason Dufner
7:45 a.m. Jim Herman, Aaron Wise, Rory Sabbatini
7:55 a.m. Brian Stuard, Scott Brown, Sungjae Im
8:05 a.m. Camilo Villegas, Roger Sloan, Lucas Bjerregaard
8:15 a.m. Brian Harman, Sam Ryder, Doc Redman
8:25 a.m. Doug Ghim, Bo Hoag, Kurt Kitayama
8:35 a.m. Hank Lebioda, Chris Baker, Andrew McCain
11:35 a.m. Bud Cauley, Patrick Rodgers, Harry Higgs
11:45 a.m. Luke List, Adam Schenk, Wyndham Clark
11:55 a.m. Byeong Hun An, Xinjun Zhang, Erik van Rooyen
12:05 p.m. Ian Poulter, Brendan Steele, Hudson Swafford
12:15 p.m. Dylan Frittelli, Martin Trainer, Zach Johnson
12:25 p.m. Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann, Rickie Fowler
12:35 p.m. Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood
12:45 p.m. Charl Schwartzel, Emiliano Grillo, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
12:55 p.m. Nick Watney, Cameron Percy, Sepp Straka
1:05 p.m. Brian Gay, Bo Van Pelt, Tim Wilkinson
1:15 p.m. Brandon Hagy, Cameron Davis, Ryo Ishikawa
1:25 p.m. Wes Roach, Henrik Norlander, Kramer Hickok

10th Tee – Friday

Tee Time Players
6:45 a.m. Harris English, Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
6:55 a.m. John Huh, Sean O’Hair, Bronson Burgoon
7:05 a.m. Chris Stroud, Kevin Streelman, Matt Wallace
7:15 a.m. Corey Conners, Russell Knox, Davis Love III
7:25 a.m. Luke Donald, Stewart Cink, Vijay Singh
7:35 a.m. Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen
7:45 a.m. Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Keith Mitchell
7:55 a.m. Scott Stallings, Lee Westwood, Jamie Lovemark
8:05 a.m. Jhonattan Vegas, Matt Every, Michael Thompson
8:15 a.m. Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Maverick McNealy
8:25 a.m. Joseph Bramlett, Tyler McCumber, Justin Bertsch
8:35 a.m. Vincent Whaley, Michael Gligic, Daniel Wetterich
11:35 a.m. Vaughn Taylor, Fabián Gómez, Seung-Yul Noh
11:45 a.m. Zac Blair, Denny McCarthy, Robby Shelton
11:55 a.m. Peter Malnati, Chesson Hadley, Arjun Atwal
12:05 p.m. Adam Long, Ryan Armour, Si Woo Kim
12:15 p.m. C.T. Pan, Greg Chalmers, Jim Furyk
12:25 p.m. Ryan Palmer, Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover
12:35 p.m. Satoshi Kodaira, Brice Garnett, Austin Cook
12:45 p.m. Kyle Stanley, Chris Kirk, Richy Werenski
12:55 p.m. Cameron Tringale, Josh Teater, Sam Burns
1:05 p.m. Padraig Harrington, Matt Jones, Matthew NeSmith
1:15 p.m. Chase Seiffert, Sebastian Cappelen, Hayden Buckley
1:25 p.m. Rob Oppenheim, Mark Anderson, Tom Lewis

How to watch

Friday

PGA Tour Live: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 2-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 12-6 p.m. ET

Saturday

PGA Tour Live: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m. ET
NBC: 3-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 1-6 p.m. ET

Sunday

PGA Tour Live: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m. ET
NBC: 3-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 1-6 p.m. ET

Brooks Koepka has a mind of his own, he reminds us again at Honda Classic

Koepka weighs in on his knee, his round with Trump and his opinion of the Premier Golf League and whether he can be swayed by Rory McIlroy.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Brooks Koepka’s golf game has been very healthy for a long time. Now, he’s looking for his actual health to catch up to his game.

Coming off a knee injury that forced him to take off three months, Koepka is gearing up for the heart of the season, his next step this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National. Koepka is working to get back to the form that allowed him to win four majors since the summer of 2017, including the 2019 PGA Championship.

Honda is Koepka’s fourth start since returning five weeks ago – including Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. He plans to give his knee the ultimate test by playing three weeks in a row, starting in two weeks with the Players Championship. Then, he will take a week off and onto the Masters, where he is seeking his first title after tying for second last year behind Tiger Woods.

“The knee is great,” he said. “I wouldn’t be playing if there was pain or I didn’t feel like I could come out here and compete my best.

“It’s better than I expected it to be at this point in time.”

The results have not been there since he returned, finishing 43rd two weeks ago at the Genesis Invitational, equaling his second-highest round all of last season. Koepka, though, stopped short of blaming his score on the layoff.

“I don’t want to say rust was the culprit of that,” he said. “I felt like I was doing a lot of really good things. I was very close, striking it well, putting it well, and sometimes it’s just a matter of scoring.”

The best thing for Koepka now after rehabbing in San Diego – where he would get his work in starting at 7 a.m. and be looking for things to do around noon – is to keep moving so his knee does not get stiff. He said he started getting antsy in early December and finally started hitting balls on Dec. 20. About a week later, he was playing a round with the world’s most famous golfer, Donald Trump. Koepka played at Trump’s course in West Palm Beach and was joined by his father, Bob, and brother, Chase.

Koepka, who was raised in Wellington, described meeting sitting Presidents – he met Barack Obama at the Floridian Golf Club years ago but was unable to fit in a round of golf – as something that will last with him forever.

“When I’m on my death bed, that’ll probably be one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, getting to meet those guys,” he said.

As for playing with Trump: “I actually had a blast,” he said.

Koepka has been in a good spot for a very long time. His climb up the golf hierarchy – he currently is ranked No. 3 in the world after holding the top spot since winning the PGA Championship in May and being overtaken this month by Rory McIlroy – has emboldened him to speak his mind on a variety of topics. He has been out front on his distaste for slow play and long pre-shot routines and recently weighed on the Patrick Reed saga at the Hero World Challenge in December, saying Reed was “building sand castles” in the bunker for the purpose of cheating.

Koepka has become a powerful voice and feeling comfortable enough to speak his mind is a good thing for golf. He has strong opinions and can help shape the game on certain issues. One of those is the topic du jour: The concept of starting a new professional golf league.

The idea of a Premier Golf League is being spearheaded by a group out of the United Kingdom and has become more than just a curiosity on the PGA Tour. McIlroy has been the most outspoken against the concept saying he does not like the plan.

Koepka did not rule it out or endorse the idea, simply saying he will wait to see what all his peers think.

“I’m just going to play where the best players play, simple as that,” he said. “I want to play against the best. I think everybody wants to play against the best.”

Koepka was then asked if McIlroy’s opinion would sway his.

“My opinion is my opinion,” he said. “Nobody else is going to sway it. It doesn’t matter.”

[opinary poll=”what-are-your-thoughts-on-the-proposed-p-rHaSoW” customer=”golfweek”]

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Honda Classic: Round 1 tee times, TV info

Everything you need to know for the first round of the Honda Classic at PGA National.

The PGA Tour is heading to PGA National for the Honda Classic.

This week’s event, the 21st of the 2019-20 season, features six of the world’s top-20 players, highlighted by No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 12 Tommy Fleetwood and No. 13 Justin Rose.

The biggest story, however, might be the absence of nearby residents and top-10 players Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay and Tiger Woods.

Featured groups for the Honda are as follows: Brooks Koepka, defending champion Keith Mitchell, Matthew Wolff; Rickie Fowler, last week’s Puerto Rico Open winner Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann; Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen; Tommy Fleetwood, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose.

Check out the tee times and viewing info below (All Times Eastern).

Round 1 – Honda Classic

1st Tee – Thursday

Tee Time Players
6:45 a.m. Vaughn Taylor, Fabián Gómez, Seung-Yul Noh
6:55 a.m. Zac Blair, Denny McCarthy, Robby Shelton
7:05 a.m. Peter Malnati, Chesson Hadley, Arjun Atwal
7:15 a.m. Adam Long, Ryan Armour, Si Woo Kim
7:25 a.m. C.T. Pan, Greg Chalmers, Jim Furyk
7:35 a.m. Ryan Palmer, Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover
7:45 a.m. Satoshi Kodaira, Brice Garnett, Austin Cook
7:55 a.m. Kyle Stanley, Chris Kirk, Richy Werenski
8:05 a.m. Cameron Tringale, Josh Teater, Sam Burns
8:15 a.m. Padraig Harrington, Matt Jones, Matthew NeSmith
8:25 a.m. Chase Seiffert, Sebastian Cappelen, Hayden Buckley
8:35 a.m. Rob Oppenheim, Mark Anderson, Tom Lewis
11:35 a.m. Harris English, Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
11:45 a.m. John Huh, Sean O’Hair, Bronson Burgoon
11:55 a.m. Chris Stroud, Kevin Streelman, Matt Wallace
12:05 p.m. Corey Conners, Russell Knox, Davis Love III
12:15 p.m. Luke Donald, Stewart Cink, Vijay Singh
12:25 p.m. Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen
12:35 p.m. Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Keith Mitchell
12:45 p.m. Scott Stallings, Lee Westwood, Jamie Lovemark
12:55 p.m. Jhonattan Vegas, Matt Every, Michael Thompson
1:05 p.m. Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Maverick McNealy
1:15 p.m. Joseph Bramlett, Tyler McCumber, Justin Bertsch
1:25 p.m. Vincent Whaley, Michael Gligic, Daniel Wetterich

10th Tee – Thursday

Tee Time Players
6:45 a.m. Bud Cauley, Patrick Rodgers, Harry Higgs
6:55 a.m. Luke List, Adam Schenk, Wyndham Clark
7:05 a.m. Byeong Hun An, Xinjun Zhang, Erik van Rooyen
7:15 a.m. Ian Poulter, Brendan Steele, Hudson Swafford
7:25 a.m. Dylan Frittelli, Martin Trainer, Zach Johnson
7:35 a.m. Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann, Rickie Fowler
7:45 a.m. Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood
7:55 a.m. Charl Schwartzel, Emiliano Grillo, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
8:05 a.m. Nick Watney, Cameron Percy, Sepp Straka
8:15 a.m. Brian Gay, Bo Van Pelt, Tim Wilkinson
8:25 a.m. Brandon Hagy, Cameron Davis, Ryo Ishikawa
8:35 a.m. Wes Roach, Henrik Norlander, Kramer Hickok
11:35 a.m. Robert Streb, Beau Hossler, Mark Hubbard
11:45 a.m. D.J. Trahan, Tom Hoge, Talor Gooch
11:55 a.m. Danny Lee, David Hearn, Scott Harrington
12:05 p.m. Kevin Tway, Grayson Murray, Daniel Berger
12:15 p.m. J.T. Poston, Ted Potter, Jr., Jimmy Walker
12:25 p.m. Tyler Duncan, Patton Kizzire, Jason Dufner
12:35 p.m. Jim Herman, Aaron Wise, Rory Sabbatini
12:45 p.m. Brian Stuard, Scott Brown, Sungjae Im
12:55 p.m. Camilo Villegas, Roger Sloan, Lucas Bjerregaard
1:05 p.m. Brian Harman, Sam Ryder, Doc Redman
1:15 p.m. Doug Ghim, Bo Hoag, Kurt Kitayama
1:25 p.m. Hank Lebioda, Chris Baker, Andrew McCain

How to watch

Thursday

PGA Tour Live: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 2-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 12-6 p.m. ET

Friday

PGA Tour Live: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 2-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 12-6 p.m. ET

Saturday

PGA Tour Live: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m. ET
NBC: 3-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 1-6 p.m. ET

Sunday

PGA Tour Live: 7:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 1-3 p.m. ET
NBC: 3-6 p.m. ET
PGA Tour Radio: 1-6 p.m. ET

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Honda Classic: Six of the world’s top-20 players bound for PGA National

A handful of golf’s best are bound for PGA National this week for the Honda Classic.

Honda Classic field includes three Majors winnings from last season, including world No. 2 and Palm Beach County native, Brooks Koepka

Keith Mitchell was standing on the 15th green during the final round of last year’s Honda Classic when the nerves set in.

Mitchell knew he was close to winning his first PGA Tour event, but when he was looking at a 5-foot putt to give him the outright lead, it became reality.

“In golf you have time to think about what’s going on before you actually do it,” Mitchell recently said. “So that walk from 15 tee to 15 green when I got a 5-footer straight up the hill and all I’m trying to do is focus on just making the putt, which was probably the easiest putt I had all day, and just to calm your nerves to make that putt.”

Mitchell made that putt and an even bigger one on 18, a 15-footer for birdie that clinched the title by one stroke over two of the game’s biggest names, Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler.

“Playing on tour is so difficult because you’re playing against 140 to 150 guys every week and when you win … how fun it is, how exciting,” Mitchell said. “Really, the opportunities make you want to win more and more and more. But you forget how hard it was to get there in the first place.”

Mitchell, 28, now gets that chance to add to his lone Tour victory this week at PGA National. While Mitchell was able to hold off two of the best players in the world a year ago, he will have to face down a more formidable field in 2020 if he’s going to join Jack Nicklaus as the only back-to-back champions in the in the tournament’s 48-year history. Nicklaus won in 1977-78 when it was called the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic.

Stuck in the middle of a stretch that includes Tiger Woods’ Genesis Invitational and WGC-Mexico City the two weeks prior and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship the following two weeks, Honda took a hit a year ago with just three of the top 20 players in the world.

But that field is stronger this year with six of the top 20 – No. 2 Koepka of Jupiter, No. 11 Tommy Fleetwood, No. 12 Justin Rose, No. 17 Louis Oosthuizen, No. 18 Shane Lowry and No. 19 Gary Woodland of Delray Beach. Fowler, ranked 26th, also returns.

“We’ve doubled the top 20s in the field,” Honda executive director Ken Kennerly said. “The field is stronger this year. The schedule is the schedule, that’s always going to be the issue for us.”

The disappointment for the fans is five of the top 10 golfers in the world who have homes a short distance from the course are skipping the tournament: No. 1 Rory McIlroy (Jupiter), No. 4 Justin Thomas (Jupiter), No. 5 Dustin Johnson (Palm Beach Gardens), No. 7 Patrick Cantlay (North Palm Beach) and No. 9 Tiger Woods (Jupiter Island). The schedule is the primary reason although Cantlay is taking off time for a medical procedure.

“Schedules dictate where these guys play,” Kennerly said. “The good news from our perspective is every player I’ve talked to loves the Honda Classic, loves PGA National and the only reason why they chose to skip it is they’re lining themselves up for the Masters, they’re lining themselves up for The Players Championship and they’re coming off the Tiger Woods Invitational and Mexico.”

Still, the highlight this year is having three of the four Majors’ winners from a year ago, Koepka (PGA Championship), Woodland (U.S. Open) and Lowry (British Open).

Kennerly is trying to get all three to bring along their trophies for a photo op.

Koepka, who was raised in Wellington, has won four majors: the PGA Championship and U.S. Open twice each. He was ranked No. 1 in the world when he committed but since has been surpassed by McIlroy. He is seeking his first victory at his hometown tournament. Koepka made a charge last year with the second-lowest final-day round of 66 but fell one shot shy of winning his first Honda.

“I think Brooks has a little unfinished business,” Kennerly said.

Koepka and Daniel Berger of Jupiter are the two homegrown golfers in the field. “I think it would be exciting for one of those guys to win,” Kennerly said.

Koepka’s 8-under last year was his best showing at PGA National. He has played Honda five times, missing the cut once. He is 7-over par in his 18 rounds.

Berger was second in 2015, losing in a playoff to Padraig Harrington. He has played Honda four times, missing the cut once, with a score of 4-over par for his 14 rounds.

Tiger Woods skipping Honda Classic, so where will we see him next?

Tiger Woods skipped this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship and he’s done the same for next week’s Honda Classic near his home in Florida.

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Tiger Woods will not be playing a home game.

As of 5 p.m. ET Friday evening, the reigning Masters champion was not on the commitment list for next week’s Honda Classic, played near his home in Jupiter, Florida. Woods last played the Honda in 2018 when he finished 12th.

Woods also opted not to play this week’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, citing back stiffness that bothered him throughout the Genesis Invitational where he finished last among those who made the cut.

A year ago Woods finished in a tie for 10th in the Mexico Championship while never seriously contending for the title. That was one of five tournaments Woods played leading into the Masters, where he won his fifth green jacket and 15th major championship.

Woods, 44, has played just two tournaments this year. He tied for ninth in the Farmers Insurance Open and finished 68th in last week’s Genesis Invitational, where he was pulling double duty as the host of the event that benefits his foundation.

It’s still unknown what events Woods, ranked No. 9 in the world, will play heading to Augusta National and his title defense in April. Last year, Woods played the Farmers, Genesis, Mexico Championship, The Players and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

He also was scheduled to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational but withdrew with a neck injury.

This year, it’s likely he’ll play the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks, a tournament he’s won a record eight times. Next up could be The Players Championship which falls the week after the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Two weeks later is the Match Play. Two weeks after the Match Play is the Masters.

After the final round of the Genesis at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles, Woods said he would spend this week training and resting before turning his attention to his golf game.

Woods, who won the Zozo Championship last fall for his record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title, finished at 11-over-par 295 in the Genesis. It was just the second time in his career that he was last among those who made the cut. At the 2015 Memorial, he shot a third-round 85 – his worst score as a professional – before finishing last.

“Well, I did not do much well today. Good news, I hit every ball forward, not backwards, a couple sideways,” he said with a laugh at Rivera. “But overall, I’m done. I was just off. It happens.

“I got a chance to have the week off this week and do a little prep, a little practicing, some training, be at home and all positive things.”

[opinary poll=”where-will-tiger-woods-get-win-no-83_gol” customer=”golfweek”]

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