We would love to provide you with Tiger Woods’ Tour Participation calendar for the rest of this year, but what we print would be slightly more than a “best guess”. ed.
The Tiger camp is not known for peeping their hoe-card too much in advance of his appearances, and for what we surmise could be for any or more of several reasons: an incredibly packed appearance schedule that could change at a moment’s notice; the need to honor other golf greats by being sited at their events; and of course, how Tiger may be physically feeling just before game-time. The bottom line? As an interested member of the general public, your guess as to his schedule may be just as good as ours.
To pin down this a bit, we can look at Woods’ play participation in previous years, along with the tournaments in which Tiger has been known to play:
Honda Classic – Palm Beach Gardens, FL., February 27- March 1
Had nearby-neighbor Woods (who finished 12th here in 2018) chosen to play in this upcoming event, he would have competed against 2019 champion Keith Mitchell and a host of other PGA professionals, many of whom are coming off wins/placements at the Farmers Insurance Open; the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; Riveria’s Genesis Invitational; and Mexico’s World Golf Classic. Last year Woods played in the Farmers, Genesis and Mexico’s WGC competitions, before then teeing it up for the Players Championship and the dell-WGC Match Play events. This year, being more mindful of body and spirit, Woods is stepping back and wisely pacing himself as he readies for the next two grueling, back-to-back slug-outs, coming up in a few weeks.
Arnold Palmer Invitational – Bay Hill Country Club, Orlando, FL, March 5-8
The bet is Woods will play this tourney, given his long-term friend- and mentorship with the late Arnold Palmer, and the fact that Woods has previously won here eight times. Tiger had to opt out last year due to neck strain; however, this year should see him win, or at least finish well. Late word has Tiger taking another week to prepare and heal.
Players Championship – TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – March 12-15
All the top winners in the world come together to battle it out a month before the Masters. Defending champion Rory McIlroy will greet top names to include Woods, who won here in 2001 and 2013 but finished just outside the top 30 in 2019.
The (84th) Masters Championship – Augusta (GA) National Golf Club – April 9-12
All hail the leader who (winning in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2015 and 2019) will be defending his number one spot for the fourth time in 23 years when the Masters Tourney convenes in six weeks. Last year Tiger won his fifth Green Jacket and now remains just one Masters win less than Jack Nicklaus’ record of six in his career. Woods at -13 beat out Xander Schauffele, Dustin Johnson and Bruce Koepka—all of whom tied for second place at -12.
PGA Championship – TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, CA May 14-17
For the first time in a quarter of a century, the PGA Championship is being held on the West Coast. Tiger’s history in securing the Wannamaker was with successive wins in 2006 and 2007, and he was the runner-up in 2009 and 2018.
Memorial (Nationwide) – Muirfield Village GC – June 4 – 7
Assuming Woods will have recovered from playing two major events in a row, it remains a good bet that he will tee it up for Jack Nicklaus’ tourney—which is another of his favorites. Historically, Wood’s performance here has been rich. Despite hiccups in several non-successive years, Woods has won here five times and enjoyed top ten finishes in 11 of his 17 starts. Last year Woods finished here with a smoking 5-under 67, placing him in a four-way tie for 9th place.
(120th) U.S. Open – Winged Foot, Mamaroneck, NY – June 18-21
While his record here has been a mixed bag of near wins and failed cuts, Wood’s performance at the Open has over the years provided spectators with many exciting thrills. In 2019 Woods finished with a wincing -10, tying him for 20th place.
The (149th) British Open Championship – Royal St. George’s, England – July 16-19
It’s a sure bet that the Open will see the likes of Woods on its first tee in July. Woods won this prestigious event in 2000, 2005 and 2006 and has finished in the top 10 four other times. Last year Woods missed the cut and attributed his misfortune to what was a stiff and aching back that plagued him throughout much of his play over the first couple of days of the tournament. This year should be a wholly different story, as a rested Woods is expected to perform at optimum.
Summer Olympics – Tokyo, Japan, July 30 – August 8
Given that this only comes every four years, it stands to reason that Woods would is vying for the opportunity to compete at this venue. This June, 120 men and women will compete in separate qualifying events to determine the top 15 players from each gender group who will play in their Olympic events.
Tour Championship – August 27-30
2018 was the year that Tiger wowed the golfing world by capturing his 80th win, beating out Billy Horschel by three points and winning $9 million. Last year, plagued by injury and lackluster play since winning at the Masters, Woods failed to qualify to defend his previous year’s victory. 2020 should be a markedly different story as he continues to pace himself and play to his level of mastery.
Woods and Roy McElroy (last year’s champion) share the title for most wins at two apiece. Stroke-based play became the format for this tourney last year. The 2020 winner will have the best 72-hole score, combined with the FedEx Cup Starting Strokes. The champion soars away with a $15 million bonus and a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
Zozo Championship – Date TBD, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Tiger’s 82nd all-time win came at Zozo in 2019. The top 60 PGA players in FedEx standings—along with top players from Bridgestone Open and the Japan Golf Tour—will compete for this second annual event later this year for a purse of more than $9 million.
