Tiger Woods returns to action at Memorial next week

By Rahul Banerji

After the deluge of bad news, there was something to cheer about especially for Tiger Woods fans as the golfer said he would be playing next week’s Memorial tournament.

It will be Tiger’s first start on the PGA Tour since February at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles where he finished 63^rd.

In between, he played a charity match alongside Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to raise funds for corona-virus relief on May 24 that he and Manning won.

The event raised a whopping $20 million for medical professionals.

Tiger Woods is a five-time winner of the event at Muirfield Village in Colombus, Ohio.

“I’m looking forward to playing in the @MemorialGolf next week. I’ve missed going out and competing with the guys and can’t wait to get back out there” Woods tweeted earlier in the day.

Fresh start

Memorial will mark Tiger’s first competitive start since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, the PGA Tour said on its website.

Woods has played at Muirfield Village 17 times in his career, winning the tournament in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 and 2012, the Tour report noted.

Tiger has never missed the cut at Muirfield and also scored top 10 finishes in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2019. He was also a member of the US Presidents Cup team that won at Muirfield Village in 2013.

The course has been laid down and developed by 18-time Major winner Jack Nicklaus

“I’ve always enjoyed Muirfield. I’ve always tried to play at Jack’s events. What he’s meant to the Tour and he’s meant to all of us has players,

“I’ve always tried to support his events and I just happened to play well on his golf courses too,” the Tour website quoted him as saying in in 2018.

“Whether it’s here or most of the Nicklaus Design courses that we play, I seem to play them well. But this one in particular is very special to him, it’s very special to us as players.

“Obviously because of what he’s done to the golf course, but more so what he’s meant to us as players.”

Title defence

Tiger is also out to defend his Masters title that he won for a fifth time in 2019 when the rescheduled tournament takes place from November 12 to 15 at Augusta National.

The rearranged US PGA Championship will now be the first major of the year in San Francisco from August 6 to 9 August. The US Open follows at Winged Foot in New York from September 17 to 20.

In three starts this season, Tiger has won once (at the Zozo Championship in Japan last autumn) and had one other top-10 finish, at the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines.

Next week’s Memorial is the second of two straight tournaments at Muirfield Village following this week’s Workday Charity Open.

Tiger, 44, is also seeking a record-breaking 83^rd title on the PGA Tour. He is currently tied on 82 wins each with the legendary Sam Snead. He is currently 41st in the FedExCup and 14th in the world rankings.

Also read: Woods, Mickelson raise $20 million for charity with NFL stars