More Weekly Read: The talking point that won't die | Will there ever be a deal?
Tiger Woods on Saturday was named the recipient of the prestigious Bob Jones Award, given annually by the United States Golf Association in recognition of sportsmanship and respect for the game. The USGA said that Woods would be recognized during a ceremony June 12, the day prior to the start of the U.S Open.
What the USGA did not say was if Woods would be there. The annual meeting is where it might have typically awarded Woods a special exemption to compete at Pinehurst No. 2, where he finished tied for third in 1999 and second in 2005. (He missed the 2014 tournament). But that invite has yet to come, and it apparently has nothing to do with the USGA not wanting to issue it.
Woods, 48, who has captured nine USGA titles including three U.S. Opens, might very well be waiting to make sure he is healthy. And he might have asked to wait to see if he might qualify on his own.
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At 906th in the Official World Golf Ranking, that will require some high finishes. Woods could get into the U.S. Open, of course, by winning the Players Championship or the Masters or the PGA Championship. Short of that, he’s looking at top-five finishes at all three events—or perhaps a runner-up finish somewhere that would allow a lower finish at another—in order to move into the top 60 in the OWGR prior to the U.S. Open.
Speaking of the Players ... Woods has not played at the Arnold Palmer Invitational since 2018—he tied for sixth in an early start in returning from spinal fusion surgery—and he is skipping again this year. There had been some hope he might show up at the Bay Hill Club course where he’s won eight times, but it always seemed a longshot—even though he withdrew three weeks ago from the Genesis Invitational.
The target has seemingly always been next week’s Players Championship, going back to December when Woods hinted at the Hero World Challenge that his surgically repaired right ankle felt good enough that it might allow him to play once a month this year.
That was starting at the Genesis Invitational and likely through the British Open at Royal Troon in July. The Players fits that timeframe, even if the TPC Sawgrass venue has never been one of Woods’s favorites.
Although he won the tournament in 2001 and 2013, Woods rarely contended in other years. It took his then-caddie, Joe LaCava, to convince him prior to the 2013 tournament that it was a venue where he could succeed.
That is probably the attitude he needs now more than ever.
If Woods is to return at the Masters next month, he needs to get some competitive rounds. And the Players offers him a good opportunity to test his game while also giving him plenty of recovery and prep time following the event and prior to the Masters.
Woods is exempt into the Players due to his 2019 Masters win, which comes with a five-year exemption. Because the tournament was canceled in 2020, Woods actually has another year, meaning the 2025 tournament would be the last under the Masters win—unless he qualifies in some other manner.
Given Woods’s role now as a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, it makes sense that he might want to play the PGA Tour’s flagship event at its headquarters.
Beyond that, the course actually affords him plenty of things to work on while not requiring drivers on every hole and giving him numerous opportunities to hone the best part of his game, his iron play. Plus, TPC Sawgrass is not a difficult walk, so the physical demands are not as daunting as some other places.
Woods’s score of 72 at Riviera followed by a withdrawal due to illness the next day after just six holes hardly gave us an indication of where he stands. He noted back spasms after his first round but showed no outward signs of distress.
We’ll know by Friday if he intends to play the Players.
