Five weeks, four big events.
You won’t have to wait long to get a really good picture of the state of Tiger Woods’ golf game in 2017.
Woods will play some serious golf on some big-boy golf courses.
And this one comes as a pleasant surprise. The old Tiger Woods did not like to reveal much of his schedule in advance. He wasn’t keen on tournaments using him to sell more tickets, as strange as that sounds. Woods likes to get paid for use of his image, any time, any place.
But at age 41 and his world ranking so low that he is not eligible for his favorite events — those no-cut, smaller field WGC paydays on some of his favorite courses, Woods had to come up with a new strategy.
In past years, Woods didn’t play that many events outside the majors. Now, with the WGC gimmes off his schedule, he had to do some alternative planning.
At his Hero World Challenge in December, he showed that he can still make a lot of birdies, but he also showed that he’s got a ways to go before he can mount a serious challenge against the world’s best talent.
Here’s how the Tiger Woods early season will play out:
FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN (Jan. 26-29): Tiger will open his 2017 season at one of his favorite venues — Torrey Pines. This presents a quick, tough challenge and we will get an immediate look at what he’s doing well and what he needs to work on. Making the 36-hole cut will be job one for Tiger.
DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC (Feb. 2-5): Woods has done well in the past at the Emirates Golf Club. It’s scoring friendly and he’ll be going up against a field comprised mostly of players from the European Tour. Highest-ranked player in the field will be world’s No. 2 Rory McIlroy. Think they’ll pair Woods and McIlroy for the first two rounds?
GENESIS OPEN (Feb. 16-19): El Tigre has hardly been a fixture at Riviera but now he’s back. This is where he made his PGA Tour debut as a skinny 16-year-old. Now he’s a rehabbing 41-year-old and he’ll be in action after taking a week off to get some rest from his trip to the Middle East.
HONDA CLASSIC (Feb. 23-26): PGA National is a short drive south of Woods’ Jupiter Island compound and just 15 short minutes from his Woods Jupiter restaurant at Harborside in Jupiter. They should have a sell-out with Woods playing in his fourth event in five weeks and by them, with a tough course in front of him, we will know a lot about his game.
Woods will be the most-watched player of 2017.
Reason is simple and it is the long-lingering question:
Will Tiger Woods win again?
That is and will be the most debated topic this season.
Notah Begay, Golf Channel analyst, former PGA Tour player and distinguished lap-dog for Tiger Woods, tells everyone without question the answer is “Yes.”
Will Tiger Woods win another major? Now that’s a entirely different ball of wax.
Will Woods win this year?
He should. After all, he IS Tiger Woods and if 46-year-old Rod Pampling, a long-time journeyman golfer who won late last year at the Shriners, can win, then why can Woods?
Woods has more talent than a guy like Pampling ever dreamed of.
So yes, Wood can and should win in 2017.
When and where?
We’ll have to wait for that one.
