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Tiger Woods will not be playing a home game.
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.”
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