Tiger commits to the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide

Tiger Woods announced Thursday that he will play next week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Woods is a five-time winner of the event.

Playing the Memorial will give Woods the chance to compete between majors, something that he didn’t do after his Masters victory. He missed the cut in last week’s PGA Championship.

Woods double-bogeyed his first hole at Bethpage Black, but got under par after making an eagle on his 13th hole. He struggled with short putts in the first round and hit just three fairways on Friday, shooting 72-73 to miss the cut by a shot. It was Woods’ first missed cut since the 2018 U.S. Open.

Woods, who is 20th in the FedExCup standings, didn’t play between the Masters and PGA Championship, taking four weeks off to rest and recover from his first major triumph in more than a decade. He also was ill at the PGA. He didn’t come to Bethpage Black the day before the tournament started.

“I've enjoyed being the Masters champion again, and the PGA was a quick turnaround, and unfortunately I just didn't play well,” Woods said before leaving New York. “I didn't do all the little things I need to do correctly to post good scores and put myself in position to shoot good scores.”

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Woods was optimistic that he could regain his winning form. The Masters was his 81st PGA TOUR victory. His next title will tie Sam Snead’s record for PGA TOUR wins.

“There's no reason why I can't get up to speed again and crank it back up,” Woods said. “I've got to start feeling a little bit better first before that happens. We'll do that first and then start cranking it back up again.”

Woods has a strong history at the next two venues he’ll visit.

He won the Memorial in three consecutive years (1999-2001) and also was victorious in 2009 and 2012. He has finished in the top 10 in half of his 16 Memorial starts. He finished T23 at last year’s Memorial. Muirfield Village also was where Woods shot the highest round of his PGA TOUR career, a third-round 85 in 2015. That round now serves as an illustration of the improbability of his latest comeback

Pebble Beach was the site of Woods’ masterpiece performance, a 15-shot victory in the 2000 U.S. Open. He also won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that year, making a five-shot comeback in the final round. He played the final four holes in 4 under par, including an eagle on 15 after holing a wedge shot from the fairway.

Woods also finished T4 in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

The 7,040-yard course should be a better fit for Woods than the behemoth of Bethpage Black. Woods no longer plays the power game that he was known for in his prime. He is 56th in driving distance this season.

His iron play is still his strength. Woods leads the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation and is 17th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. He also ranks fifth in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, which will come in handy on a course with the smallest greens on the PGA TOUR.