First and foremost, Eamon Lynch is giving thanks for Tiger Woods for his win at the Masters and all that it means for the game.
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There was a lot to be grateful for in golf in 2019, and now is the time of year that we get to give thanks for it.
First and foremost, Eamon Lynch is giving thanks for Tiger Woods for his win at the Masters and all that it means for the game. There’s also Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy, who have given golf fans the first taste of a legitimate PGA Tour rivalry in more than two decades.
Lynch’s list spans the villains of golf, the up-and-comers of golf and even the turkeys of golf.
There is indeed a lot to be thankful for this year.
Watch the video at the top of the page to see the latest edition of Eamon’s Corner.
It’s been 10 years since police responded to a 911 call at Tiger Woods’ mansion that erupted in a sex scandal that derailed his marriage.
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In May, on a rainy evening in Springdale, Ark., a 2009 black Cadillac Escalade with an infamous history headed south on Carlton Street.
A 1997 Chevrolet Blazer headed east on the perpendicular street, McCray Avenue, and both cars approached the intersection.
When the driver of the Escalade failed to yield the right of way, the vehicles collided, and it wasn’t the first accident involving the Escalade. That came about a decade earlier, when the SUV was driven by the most famous golfer on the planet.
Tiger Woods was behind the wheel of that 2009 Escalade on Nov. 27, 2009 when at about 2:30 a.m., outside his former mansion in Windermere, Fla., he collided with a row of hedges and hit a fire hydrant. The vehicle finally came to rest after hitting a tree.
Less than two days earlier, the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods was having an affair with Rachel Uchitel, then a New York nightclub hostess. The car accident and its murky circumstances — paramedics found Woods lying in the road, snoring and without shoes or socks — coincided with Woods’ personal crash.
A full-fledged sex scandal ensued, exposing years of infidelity and rocking Woods’ life.
He lost his wife. He lost sponsorships. He lost his dignity.
With 14 major championships at the time of the car accident, Woods, then 33, still looked like a solid bet to break Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18 majors. But with medical problems developing during Woods’ personal scandal, it took more than a decade for him to win another major — the 2019 Masters, arguably the most meaningful of his career.
While Woods’ free fall became a public spectacle, others connected to his demise have suffered in relative obscurity.
Tiger Woods appears with his wife, Elin, in photographs on the cover of magazines displayed on a newsstand in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (Kathy Willens/AP)
Mindy Lawton, one of more than a dozen women identified as former mistresses of Woods, was involved in a fatal vehicular accident.
Jamie Jungers, who claimed to have had an 18-month affair with Woods, attempted to use the notoriety during her legal problems.
The trooper who handled the first phase of the investigation into Woods’ accident for the Florida State Highway Patrol faced his own investigation — for shooting an unarmed suspect in the scalp.
The neighbors who wrapped Woods with blankets and put a pillow under his head at the scene of the SUV accident suffered indignities they apparently thought Woods would help spare them.
And then there is the 2009 Cadillac Escalade.
Here are their stories:
Mindy Lawton
On the list of Woods’ alleged ex-mistresses, which included porn stars, escorts and lingerie models, Mindy Lawton stood apart. At the time she met the golfer, Lawton told reporters, she was an $8-an-hour waitress at Perkins restaurant, near Woods’ former mansion in Windermere.
Two weeks after Woods crashed his Escalade, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY, Lawton, then 33, signed a contract designed to cash in on her alleged 14-month affair with Woods that she told reporters ended in 2007.
The deal called for Lawton to be represented by a Florida attorney, Glenn Reid, who would receive 33.3 percent of each $1 million generated by Lawton from media-related opportunities, according to a copy of the contract.
The big payday never came. Lawton went from scandal curiosity to convicted felon.
In January 2011, she pleaded guilty to DUI with serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony. She was sentenced to five years probation and served one year in county jail. The following year, Lawton was unable to find employment, out of money and two weeks from being homeless, according to court records.
The court terminated Lawton’s probation early and allowed her to return to live with her mother in New York, court records show. Then came another crash.
On the morning of June 21, 2015, Lawton was riding on an ATV with her boyfriend, Jamie Kennedy. Kennedy lost control after the ATV hit large rocks and trees, and the two were ejected from the vehicle, according to published reports.
Kennedy, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lawton, then 38, was airlifted to a hospital. She survived after undisclosed medical treatment.
In Kennedy’s obituary found online, Lawton was described as Kennedy’s “companion.’’ Her Facebook page includes photos of her with Kennedy and indicates Lawton, 43, still lives in Ogdensburg, N.Y., a town of 11,128 where she grew up.
The Perkins restaurant where Lawton said Woods regularly ordered the egg-white omelet with broccoli has shut down. And the deal between Lawton and Reid, the Florida attorney, went sour.
Five months after the contract was signed, Reid sued, claiming Lawton cooperated for a “Vanity Fair” magazine article without consulting him.
Lawton did not respond to voicemails and text messages from USA TODAY Sports seeking comment.
Jamie Jungers
Two weeks after Woods’ accident, Jamie Jungers became the first alleged mistress of his to be interviewed on live TV.
Wearing a fur-lined coat on the set of NBC’s Today, Jungers, then 26, said her affair with Woods began in 2005 after the two met in Las Vegas.
The affair ended about a year and a half later after she asked Woods for help with financial problems and he declined, Jungers said. But her notoriety continued over the last decade.
In August 2011, when Jungers was being questioned by Las Vegas police who suspected she had been driving under the influence, she told a police officer she was “a celebrity, related to Tiger Woods.’’
Tiger Woods hugs his mother Kultida Woods after publicly admitting to cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren but maintained that the issues remain “a matter between a husband and a wife.” (Photo: Joe Skipper-Pool/Getty Images)
Jungers made “several references’’ that she was a celebrity and wanted a warning instead of being booked at jail, according to the incident report. She was booked and convicted of DUI.
And booked again in Las Vegas in September 2015 on charges of possession of narcotics paraphernalia and driving on a revoked license.
And booked again in Las Vegas in November 2018 as a fugitive from another state on warrant. Her disappearance was featured on an episode of “Dog the Bounty Hunter,’’ when former bail bondsman Duane “Dog’’ Chapman helped hunt down Jungers in Las Vegas and handed her over to police.
On camera, Jungers said she was struggling with an addiction to heroin — she was on probation in Kansas for heroin possession. She made another cameo on “Dog the Bounty Hunter’’ about three months later, reporting she was successfully completing rehab at KISA Life Recovery, a treatment center in Sedan, Kan.
Jungers, now 36, told USA TODAY Sports she “graduated” from KISA Life Recovery and now works for the treatment center.
Joshua Evans
Evans pulled up to the scene of the crash at 3:01 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Accustomed to handling DUI investigations during his year on the job, the 28-year-old trooper found himself handling the initial stage of investigating the high-profile incident.
On the accident report, Evans noted the estimated damage ($3,300 for the hedges, fire hydrant and tree, and another $8,000 for the Escalade), diagrammed the winding route Woods took (down his driveway and over a concrete curb, onto grass median and swerving back across the concrete curb, onto a grass shoulder before plowing into the hedges, fire hydrant and tree on his neighbors’ property) and the estimated speed (30 mph in a 25-mph zone).
It also was Evans who went to Health Central Hospital in nearby Ocoee, where Woods had been treated and released, and sought a medical sample of Woods’ blood. He suspected the golfer might have been impaired at the time of the crash.
But hospital workers turned Evans away, and the state’s attorney’s office denied Evans’ request for a subpoena to get a sample of Woods’ blood taken the night of the crash.
Almost four years later, it was Evans who was under investigation.
In November 2013, Evans was involved in a high-speed chase. It ended with Evans and the man suspected of driving under the influence struggling at the front door of the home where the driver lived with his parents.
Evans pulled out his Glock 37 and fired seven bullets into the front door, according to court documents. One of the bullets struck the man in the head but did not cause life-threatening injuries, according to court documents.
A grand jury cleared Evans in the incident.
But an internal investigation found Evans violated the Florida Highway Patrol’s policy on excessive force, and he was suspended for 40 hours without pay, said public affairs officer Kim Montes.
Evans declined to comment for this story, according to Montes, who said Evans is still employed by the highway patrol and remains highly regarded for his work.
Montes said Evans made more than 100 DUI arrests in both 2012 and 2013 and also has distinguished himself as a member of the mobile field force that handles civil disturbances, as a felony officer for drug interdiction and the patrol’s hit-and-run crash investigator.
The neighbors
Jarius Adams and his sister, Kimberly Harris, told investigators they discovered Woods lying on the pavement in front of their parents’ house and Elin Nordegren, then Woods’ wife, standing over the golfer.
“Can you please help me?’’ Adams told investigators Nordegren asked him.
First, Adams called 911.
“I need an ambulance immediately,’’ Adams can be heard saying on a recording of the 911 call. “I have someone down in front of my house.’’
Then Adams and his sister wrapped Woods in a blanket and put a pillow under his head. But in the days that followed, things got less neighborly.
A security officer guards the area in front of Tiger Woods’ house, left, in Windermere, Fla., Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. (Photo: Gary W. Green, AP/Orlando Sentinel)
“They all wanted Tiger to pay them is what they really wanted, for helping him,’’ said Bill Sharpe, a Florida attorney who represented the family that owned the house next door to Woods’ former mansion. “That was the real issue.’’
After Woods’ car accident, Sharpe said, he got a call from Jerome Adams Jr., the brother of Jarius Adams and Harris. Their father owned the house next door to Woods.
Sharpe said he had represented Jerome Adams Jr. in the late 1990s on charges of passing worthless bank checks when Adams was attending Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
Six months after the accident, Jerome Adams Jr. launched a website with a pay-per-view video trashing Woods. Adams charged $3.99 for videos on which, according to a 2010 report in the Orlando Sentinel, said things like, “He’s a jerk,” and “The person that you know is just a crafted image.”
On the surface, Sharpe said, it probably seemed odd that members of a family that lived in Isleworth, the exclusive gated subdivision, were charging $3.99 for anti-Tiger videos.
“They had fallen on hard times,’’ Sharpe said.
Jerome Adams Jr.’s home had been in foreclosure, court records show. The house his father owned next to Woods’ home in Isleworth also had been in foreclosure, court records show.
Professional golfer Bubba Watson ended up buying Woods’ former home — the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 7,940-square foot estate, where Woods once lived with Elin and their daughter, Sam, and son, Charlie. But Watson has since moved.
The former neighbors are long gone too. Jerome Adams Sr., then a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, sold the family home in 2011 for $1.8 million.
Jerome Adams Sr. and his wife moved into a home that cost less than $300,000, and he died in 2014. Family members did not respond to voicemails or text messages left by USA TODAY Sports.
The Escalade
The SUV, which can be tracked by its VIN number, rolled off the General Motors assembly line in 2008. GM still owned the vehicle during the time of Woods’ accident. From there things get murky, although CARFAX offers some tidbits.
The Escalade has made its way from Michigan to Florida, and from Tennessee to Missouri, and finally to Arkansas, with its sixth owner.
An image of Tiger Woods Escalade was released by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) on March 12, 2010. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
On May 9, on a rainy evening in Springdale, Ark., Alicia Galvan, 38, was driving the Escalade when it collided with a Chevy Blazer. Galvan was cited for failure to yield the right of way and for driving without a driver’s license or insurance.
The report shows the owner of the Escalade was Refujio Perez-B of Fayetteville, and he listed the same home address as the driver.
Maria Curiel, co-owner of the Fayetteville property, told USA TODAY Sports she would look into the matter.
The next day, Curiel reported by text message, “I contacted the manager of the property, but she does not want to release any information. I am sorry.’’
Like Tiger Woods, there are a lot more miles on the Escalade than there were a decade ago.
The last official odometer for the Escalade, according to a CARFAX report, shows 158,052 miles — and still rolling along a decade after that fateful crash.
It was 10 years ago on Nov. 27 that Tiger Woods ran his car into a fire hydrant and his career off a metaphorical cliff.
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Nov. 27, 2009 is a date that lives in the surreal outer reaches of sports infamy. It is a date that marks the most bizarre self-induced sabotaging of an athlete’s image, career and lifestyle in the history of sports.
It is the date that Tiger Woods ran his car into a fire hydrant at the end of his driveway, triggering a cascade of scandalous revelations that forever altered the way tens of millions of people around the world viewed him as a golfer, pitchman, husband, father and cultural icon.
In other words, the 10th anniversary of Tiger’s drive off the metaphorical cliff is one that undoubtedly will pass without his celebration.
Some might believe that because Tiger has won several high-profile tournaments since those dark days of 2009 – including, finally, another major at this year’s Masters – he has bounced back to where he once was and that everything is the same today as it was the moment before he tore out of his house in his Cadillac Escalade in those early morning hours after Thanksgiving.
That assumption would be wrong. Go ahead and cheer for Tiger all you’d like. Revel in the comeback story of the year, if not the century. Applaud him for acting more like a normal person now, if only because he couldn’t have acted less like a normal person for years.
But make no mistake about it. For Tiger Woods, nothing is the same as it was in those heady days before the world found out who he really was.
Tiger Woods appears with his wife, Elin, in photographs on magazines displayed on a newsstand in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)
Many of us are old enough to remember that the act of turning on a television or walking through an airport often put us face to face with the most prominent athlete of the early days of the 21st century. Tiger’s endorsement deals were legendary: AT&T, Accenture, American Express, Gillette, Buick, General Mills and Gatorade, among others.
Nearly all are long gone. Those companies signed Tiger believing he was what he portrayed himself to be: a fearless athlete with a sweet smile, a storybook marriage and a lovely young family. When he admitted that it was all a clever ruse – “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.” – they dumped him as fast as they could and have never come back.
Most of the companies to stick with him to this day are golf or sports-related companies like Nike, and a Japanese firm that produces a pain medicine Tiger pitches in Japan. Tiger clearly doesn’t need the money, so it doesn’t really matter, but what he lost as a corporate spokesman who transcended sports is incalculable.
Something else also disappeared as one mistress after another appeared on TMZ or in the National Enquirer to tell her tawdry Tiger tales: Trust.
From the mid-1990s until November 2009, Americans saw a lot of Tiger. They felt that they knew him like a member of their family. They were traditional sports fans, for sure, but also grandmothers who couldn’t care less about any other athlete but who planned their Sundays around Tiger’s tee time.
Over the years, a blind reverence developed for Tiger, an adoration that was shaken to its core by the run-in with the fire hydrant. Over time, it has been replaced by a public wariness that wisely extends beyond Tiger to all well-known athletes. If you couldn’t trust Tiger, who could you trust?
We also know that Tiger’s golf game suffered greatly in his very public fall from grace. The humiliation Tiger suffered shattered his aura of athletic invincibility. All of a sudden, he was beatable on a golf course.
The day of the accident, he had won 14 majors and 71 PGA Tour titles. Ten years later, those totals are 15 majors and 82 titles. Not bad, but certainly not what we would have predicted for Tiger had we ventured a guess on Thanksgiving Day 2009.
To be sure, the dominance of a 33-year-old golfer would have been expected to tail off over the next 10 years of his career, especially for a man prone to injury. But certainly not that dramatically. There had even been heady talk of Tiger winning several majors in 2010 to get close to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 because his favorite courses were hosting that year: Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.
But it was not to be, a familiar refrain in the 10 years that have passed in the life of Tiger Woods since that fateful day in 2009.
In all, golfers have won more than $5.7 billion in career earnings, according to the PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour has 10 members of the $50 million club, 18 who have won at least $40 million in on-course earnings, 38 with $30 million or more, 77 who have earned at least $20 million and 189 who have surpassed the $10 million plateau.
Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and a few others will compete in a friendly event called the Hero Shot ahead of the Hero World Challenge.
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We’re just a week and change away from the 21st Hero World Challenge, but this year’s event at Albany, Bahamas will be unlike any other.
The tournament itself, which benefits Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation, will be played Wednesday-Saturday on Dec. 4-7, but the week-long event will begin two days prior with the Hero Shot at Baha Mar on Monday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m.
Woods, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson and Gary Woodland will all compete, hitting balls at a bullseye 100 yards over the Reflections pool at Baha Mar. The first of three rounds will feature three head-to-head matches with players hitting six balls toward the target, which consists of three rings each of different values: 100 points for the outer ring, 200 points for the inner ring and 500 points for the bullseye. The sixth ball in each round will be worth double points. The player with the highest score moves on.
In the second round, the three players who advanced will hit an additional six shots, with the lowest score being eliminated and the top scores advancing to the final round. You can watch the Hero Shot on social media via GolfTV, PGA Tour and TGR Live.
The Hero will be Tiger’s first tournament since winning his 82nd PGA Tour title by three strokes over Hideki Matsuyama at the storm-delayed Zozo Championship in Japan on Oct. 27. After the historic win, Woods announced he’d be a playing captain at the Presidents Cup, which will be held after the Hero in Melbourne, Australia, beginning Dec. 12.
Patrick Reed reveals his thoughts on Presidents Cup team captain Tiger Woods and if he plans on playing on the European Tour next year.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Tiger Woods might be inclined to play Patrick Reed in every session of the upcoming Presidents Cup after Reed paid his playing captain the ultimate compliment.
As far as Reed is concerned, Woods is “the greatest player on the planet.” High praise indeed.
Reed is teeing it up in the $8 million DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, the final event of the 2019 European Tour. Then the 2018 Masters winner heads to Woods’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas before joining playing captain Woods in the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, Australia.
“It’s going to be amazing,” Reed said. “It was awesome hearing that he was going to be a captain and the way he’s been playing, it’s awesome to see that he’s going to be playing. I mean, he definitely earned that spot to be able to play on the team. Any time you can have the greatest player on the planet playing on your team, it always helps you out.”
The European Tour received good news in the final event of the year when Reed committed his long-term future to playing the European circuit alongside the PGA Tour. Reed is playing his third full season in Europe, and his fourth in the last five years.
“I plan on keeping my European Tour membership as long as I can still move and still play,” Reed admitted. “One of my goals was always to be a worldwide player. Not just play over here once in a while, but play worldwide and do it for my career.
“There’s no doubt that I’ll definitely play enough to keep my card next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.”
The 29-year-old believes competing in European Tour events has made him a better player.
“The biggest thing I like is the challenge of getting used to different time zones, different cultures, different grasses and golf courses. Even if it’s Bermuda (grass) over here compared to Bermuda at home, there is still a little difference. It definitely makes you become a more rounded golfer as well as being able to adapt very quickly whether it’s time zones or different surfaces.
“The good thing is that now with multiple years out here playing both tours I’ve figured out ways to make sure the energy levels stay up when I’m playing. If I went thought the same kind of routine in practice as I do at home and I tried to do that while I was over here, I’d be toast.
“I’ve been able to figure out nuances in my body and my schedule to allow me to hold up.”
As was expected, Brooks Koepka has not recovered from his knee injury in time to play in the Presidents Cup, giving Rickie Fowler an in.
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Brooks Koepka is out of the Presidents Cup; Rickie Fowler is in.
Koepka, ranked No. 1 in the world, announced on Wednesday that he has been forced to withdraw from the 2019 competition due to a knee injury. U.S. Team Playing Captain Tiger Woods used the additional selection afforded to him by Koepka’s withdrawal to select Fowler.
“I notified Captain Tiger Woods that despite constant medical care and rehab, I am not able to play golf at this time. I consider it to be a high honor to be part of the 2019 team and I regret not being able to compete,” Koepka said in a statement. “Since my injury in Korea, I have been in constant contact with Tiger and assured him that I was making every effort to be 100 percent in time for the Presidents Cup in Australia. However, I need more time to heal.”
Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler on the 12th tee during the second round of The 2018 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Photo: John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports
Koepka qualified as the No. 1-ranked player for the U.S. Presidents Cup Team in the points standing. December’s event would have been Koepka’s second Presidents Cup appearance after making his debut in 2017 and compiling a 2-2-0 record.
“Brooks and I talked, and he’s disappointed that he won’t be able to compete,” Woods said. “I told him to get well soon, and that we’re sorry he won’t be with us in Australia. He would clearly be an asset both on the course and in the team room.”
“Anytime you lose the No. 1 player in the world, that’s a huge loss,” said Charles Howell III, the defending champion at this week’s RSM Classic. “And Brooks, like his mentality, the way he is, I mean, he seems made for match play, so I do think it’s a big loss. But you’re replacing him with Rickie Fowler, who’s obviously a phenomenal player.”
Fowler will now play for the third time on the U.S. Team following a strong showing in 2017 at Liberty National where he was undefeated with a 3-0-1 record. Fowler, who was 11th in the Presidents Cup points standings, hasn’t played since finishing T-19 at the Tour Championship in late August. He was expected to play at the Mayakoba Golf Classic last week, but withdrew due to an intestinal bacterial infection.
Former two-time U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III supported the selection of Fowler. He thought back to 2010, when Fowler was a rookie under consideration for Captain Corey Pavin’s final pick.
“When I called Bob Tway, he pointedly said, ‘He should be your first pick,’ and Rickie proved that over in Wales. He played like a veteran,” Love said. “Rickie loves the stage. A lot like a Phil Mickelson or now hanging around Kevin Kisner, there’s some guys that like to walk out on the final green and make that putt, they want the ball with no time on the clock and Rickie’s that guy. Rickie’s a guy you want on your side. It’s unfortunate for Brooks, but I think they picked up an all‑around team guy both playing and in the team room, so I’m excited for him.”
Kisner, who won the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play in March and had success at the 2017 Presidents Cup, has struggled the past few months. He and hot hands Kevin Na and Brendon Todd were among the names being bandied about as a replacement pick for Koepka along with old standbys Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth,
“No one else really stepped up and did much from our vantage point,” said Zach Johnson, one of team USA’s assistant captains. “I think you side with experience, camaraderie and chemistry.”
“Rickie has played on a couple Presidents Cup teams, was someone seriously considered for a pick and is well respected and liked by his teammates,” Woods said. “I know he’s going to do a great job for us. We’re all excited about this year’s event. The course is outstanding, the fans will be loud and we’re playing against great competitors. We’re ready to go.”
“When I heard Brooks wasn’t going to be ready to play, I was bummed for him and the team,” Fowler said. “Then I got a call from both Brooks and Tiger. I was humbled and excited to be given the chance. These team events have been some of the most memorable weeks of my career.
“To be picked by Tiger to compete with him and the rest of the team is very special. It is impossible to replace the world’s No. 1, but I can assure my teammates and American golf fans that I will be prepared and ready to do my part to bring home the Presidents Cup.”
The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time Dec. 9-15.
Furthermore, there are 18 golfers who have won at least $40 million in on-course earnings, 38 golfers with $30 million or more, 77 who have earned at least $20 million and 189 who have surpassed the $10 million plateau.
In all, 643 golfers have won $5,728,260,700 in career earnings, according to the PGA Tour, through the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions.
Tiger Woods leads the way, of course. He has topped the $120 million mark and is the only golfer with more than $100 million in career earnings.
The $30 million dollar club
Let’s take a closer look here at the top 38 of all-time.
These are the golfers who have surpassed $30 million in on-course earnings.
Taking our best guess based on history and early commitments as to where and when Tiger Woods will play between now and The Masters.
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Tiger Woods matched Sam Snead with his 82nd victory at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in late October. It left his fans yearning for more and wondering when he will play next.
Woods elected not to play in the upcoming RSM Classic at the Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia, which means his next start in an official Tour event won’t happen until the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the earliest.
But Woods has already confirmed that he will play at the Hero World Challenge, an 18-man, no-cut event that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, which begins Dec. 4 at The Albany Club in the Bahamas. Then it is straight to Melbourne, Australia, for The Presidents Cup. Woods will become the first playing captain in the biennial event since Hale Irwin in 1994. Woods is required to play at least one match before the Sunday singles.
As Captain, I’m going to choose Tiger Woods as the last player on the team. https://t.co/AR7zgDTJkZ
That still remains a mystery. As previously noted, he’s eligible for the winners-only Tournament of Champions in Maui, but he skipped it last year even after gaining eligibility as winner of the Tour Championship and hasn’t appeared at Kapalua since 2005 despite a memorable victory there in 2000.
More likely, Woods will make his 2020 debut at his usual starting spot, the Farmers Insurance Open (Jan. 23-26) in San Diego, where he’s won eight times at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open. Woods has yet to commit there, but he’s already done so for the Genesis Invitational, Feb. 13-16. He’s still never won at Riviera Country Club.
Given his myriad injuries, Woods will likely continue with a less is more schedule. So, it will be surprising to see him sign up to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he once made the whole state of Arizona shake with a hole-in-one at TPC Scottsdale’s 16th, but also couldn’t break 80 with the chipping yips during his last appearance in 2015. Nor is he likely to be in the mood for the six-hour rounds, potentially cold weather and bumpy greens of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
After his hosting duties at the Genesis Invitational, Woods has been a loyal attendee of WGC’s and could test his stamina by teeing it up two weeks in a row with a start at the WGC-Mexico Championship in Mexico City. If his body cooperates, the Honda Classic, despite being a home game for Woods and the start of the Florida Swing, will be a scheduling casualty as it is doubtful he will choose to play three in a row. That’s too much golf for his back and knee at this stage in his career.
Woods missed the Arnold Palmer Invitational last year. That has been a favorite hunting ground for him and site of eight of his victories. It’s a safe bet that if the body is willing this time, he’ll be there, and the week after is The Players Championship, where Woods is a two-time champion.
In 2018, Woods finished second at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook. The course fits his eye, but don’t count on Woods showing up unless he’s had to alter his schedule for health reasons or feels the sudden urge to add a start in his run up to the Masters if he’s missed a bunch of cuts and looking for reps.
Last year, Woods made his final tuneup for Augusta at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas. There’s the potential to have to play a lot of golf should Woods go far in the competition, including 36 on Saturday, so his participation here could be subject to change.
All of this leads up to April 9, and Tiger’s defense of the green jacket. That can’t come soon enough, but there should be a respectable number of early-season starts to see Woods and his chase for Tour title No. 83.
