Tiger Woods is roaring into the new year, preparing to play four times in five weeks in his return to the PGA Tour after a 15-month absence. Tiger Woods is ready to go at Torrey Pines. Tiger Woods begins the next phase of his life at Torrey Pines this week when he tees it up in the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour, his first event of 2017. Woods told the media in San Diego for the tournament that he felt ready.
“I’m excited about playing,” Woods said. “I feel like I’m playing well and just need to get some tournament rounds under my belt.”The former world No. 1, who missed all of 2016 because of a back injury and resulting surgery, plans on playing four tournaments in the next five weeks — Torrey Pines, then the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, the Genesis Open at Riviera and the the Honda Classic in Florida.
“I just need to get out there and do it and see what happens,” he said. “I feel like I’m strong enough to be able to handle the workload, but I’ve still got to go out there and do it. Feeling good about it and doing it are two different things.”
Woods acknowledged that his back would determine the success of his return to the tour. “I know I can shoot scores, but I need to have my health at a state where I can prepare,” he said. “If I have that I know I can shoot scores and win golf tournaments.”
World No. 1 Jason Day is in the field this week as well as other Australians Stuart Appleby, Aaron Baddeley, Steven Bowditch, Brett Drewitt, Marc Leishman, Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling, Cameron Percy and John Senden.
Woods has broken numerous golf records. He has been World Number One for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record eleven times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second-highest of any player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 79 PGA Tour events, second all time behind Sam Snead, who had 82 wins.
He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999. Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only golfers to win both The Silver Medal and The Gold Medal at The Open Championship.
