Tiger Woods Begins His Preserve-The-Body Game Plan

The last time we saw Tiger Woods he was accomplishing the improbable — winning his 15th major championship.

We won’t see him again until he tees it up at Bethpage Black for the 2019 PGA Championship in three weeks. He’ll hit his first tee shot on Thursday, May 16th.

Woods holed the winning putt on the 18th green at Augusta National on Sunday April 14th.  For you figure-it-quick math wizards — that’s 32 days between competitive rounds for El Tigre.

It’s only the second time in his golfing life he’s gone from one major to another with nothing in-between.

What we’re seeing now, after his pedal-to-the-metal break-neck schedule last season — is a game plan to preserve his body.

Woods has been taking it easy back in Jupiter.  Per Tiger’s comments on GolfTV,  where he’s making huge dollars to produce content, he said that he’s spent his time enjoying dinners with friends, taking his kids to and from school, and otherwise not doing “very much.”

Tiger was spotted one evening at his Woods Jupiter eatery sporting his Green Jacket.  Woods opted not to do the typical media tour as most Masters winners have done and basically, for Tiger, it’s a matter of “been there done that.”  With five Masters titles, he doesn’t need to wear himself out on late night talk shows.

“The Masters took a lot out of him,” Tiger’s agent, Mark Steinberg, aka The Great Stiney, admitted to ESPN. “He’s still digesting and appreciating what happened.”

Woods is a game historian and he’s probably following the footsteps of Ben Hogan,  following Hogan’s near-fatal collision with a bus in 1950.

Hogan’s starts after 1950 were severely curtailed to protect his battered, recovering body. He played just four times in 1951, three times in 1952 and eight times in 1953.  Hogan returned to four-start seasons in 1954 and again in 1955, then played even less after that.

Tiger’s 80th win last season at the Tour Championship gave his confidence the boost it needed.  He said after 2018 that he would devote his early 2019 season to preserving his energy levels.  His 2018 was a grueling playoff run caused him to lose weight and push his body too hard.

The surprising announcement last week that Woods won’t play at Quail Hollow this week simply reinforces that.

It has become obvious that with major number 15 in the books, Woods will be putting the bulk of his focus on the majors, at least this season.

This condensed schedule with majors in April, May, June and July could see Woods playing in very few regular PGA Tour events.  Tiger used to love Quail Hollow but renovation and re-design have created a very long walk for competitors thanks to new back tees.

Tiger is obviously content with where his game is following that Masters marvel.

After the PGA, Woods may only play at The Memorial prior to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

After that, it’s all speculation.

If, and it’s a big if, Woods wins the PGA, he might not play until Pebble and after that, he might not play until the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

For Tiger, it’s all about keeping the parts working on that 43-year-old body of his.

You can’t blame him for that.