Preview: Tiger Woods at THE NORTHERN TRUST
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With one more win, Tiger Woods will tie Sam Snead for most career PGA TOUR victories at 82. Each time Tiger tees it up, we’ll take a look at his chances for that particular week. Here’s a CHASING 82 preview entering this week’s THE NORTHERN TRUST, the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs.
RECENT FORM
Since the Monday after Tiger’s Masters win in April until Thursday’s opening round at Liberty National, 115 days will have passed. During that time, Tiger has played 12 competitive rounds on the PGA TOUR. On two separate occasions, he’s taken four weeks off between starts … and missed the cut both times (including his most recent start at The Open Championship). He enters this week having taken the last two weeks off, so he may not be quite as rusty.
Still, it’s tough to get a handle on just what to expect from him. He could be rusty … or he could be rested. Don’t be surprised if it’s a combination of both.
At 28th in the FedExCup standings, Woods knows he can’t coast his way into the Playoffs finale, the TOUR Championship. He needs to do something either this week or at next week’s BMW Championship to secure his spot for East Lake. Given that he has not played consecutive weeks on TOUR since last year’s Playoffs, he’s likely hoping to make a big push this week so he doesn’t have to sweat out his position next week.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Woods is making his 10th start at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Of his previous nine starts, eight have been after he turned pro. His last five starts have been in the FedExCup Playoffs era. His best results are a couple of T-2s, both at Liberty National (see below).
COURSE HISTORY
2009 – Tiger entered the opening event of the 2009 FedExCup Playoffs ranked No. 1 in points. Despite not being completely sold on the new course – “It’s interesting,” he responded diplomatically when asked for his opinion – Woods arrived at the 72nd hole with a chance to make a playoff. But he misread a 7-foot birdie putt, and Heath Slocum won by one stroke. “Not too many golf courses that you misread putts that badly,” Woods said. “This golf course is one.”
2013 – Tiger approved of the course changes made since his last visit, and he again found himself in contention. But after hitting his second shot at the par-5 15th, he dropped to his knees in pain, fighting back spasms that began on the previous hole. He powered on, though, making birdies at 16 and 17, and again had a birdie attempt at 18 to force a playoff, this time with Adam Scott. And like four years earlier, he missed. “I hit a good putt,” Woods said. “Thought I made it. It was a little double‑breaker and I thought I poured it.”
WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING
NBC/Golf Channel analysts Paul Azinger and Brandel Chamblee on what to expect out of Tiger:
PAUL AZINGER: “That's part of the intrigue of Tiger is that we don't know the answer to those questions, either. What Tiger is going to show up? Slow kind of groggy-looking Tiger, who looks like he's spent? He grimaced a little bit like maybe his lower back is bothering him some. It's like the first time he has ever had a post-victory hangover that I can recall when he won at Masters. Let's give it to him and let him have a little bit of I'm going to take the rest of the year off, I'm going to heal my body, I did what I needed to do. I can see him thinking that way, while still competing in the tournaments he's obligated to play in.
“But if he's healthy, he wants to play well every week. He's sitting in a good spot right now, and he could win this thing.
“But the intrigue, it's like watching these heavyweights come into the ring and the anticipation of when that bell rings what's going to happen first. We don't know. That's why the mystery surrounding Tiger, I think, makes him that much more intriguing. It's kind of like Brooks Koepka never really saying anything we much cared about and now because he's so good at golf and he's winning these big tournaments, we're clinging to his every word hoping he says something.
“So Tiger's camp has done a masterful job of, I guess, kind of forcing us to anticipate what are we going to expect out of Tiger.”
BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: “Tiger really surprised me this year, and I'm not talking about the Masters. I think everybody would agree that middle of last year or towards the end of last year that he was capable of winning a major championship and that the Masters was likely his best chance of doing so. What he did there can be, I think, called the greatest comeback in the history of the game, but it didn't really surprise anybody that he played so well there.
“But since then, I've never seen this Tiger. Since April, he's broken 70 twice. He's missed half the cuts that he's played. I could kind of understand the celebration after the Masters going into the PGA, kind of, but there's something else there. I mean, he looked hurt at The Open, he looked slow, groggy, whichever word you want to use. So there's something there that we can't quite put our finger on. But he's certainly not the guy who won the TOUR Championship or the Masters the last few times we've seen him.
“Will he show up a different Tiger at THE NORTHERN TRUST? Paul is right; there's no way we could sniff guessing that. I hope he does. You're right, he's played beautifully there. They've played there twice. He's finished second twice. He's going to Medinah, played so well there. TOUR Championship, he's played so well there. So at least on paper it looks like great opportunity for some compelling golf.
“But again, I don't know who this Tiger Woods is that we've seen since he won the Masters.”
TEE TIMES
Tiger is grouped with J.T. Poston (last week’s winner of the Wyndham Championship) and Scott Piercy for the first two rounds. That threesome will tee off Thursday on the 10th tee at 7:43 a.m. ET, and on Friday on the first tee at 12:33 p.m. ET. Follow PGA TOUR LIVE for all the action.