Here comes Tiger. Six weeks into the PGA Tour resumption, golf has the first sighting of its big ticket item. The appearance of Woods would ordinarily add a few at the turnstile as well as the corporate hospitality tent. Not this weekend.
The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village is one of the highlights of the season, conceived and hosted by Jack Nicklaus to honour the greats of the game. Woods has won it a record five times. A sixth victory in his first appearance since February would leave him out on his own with 83 tour victories, not that he needs the distinction to cement his place in the pantheon.
This was identified by the tour as the event at which spectators would be allowed back through the gates. America’s casual relationship with the rules of fighting Covid-19 has put paid to that.
A spike in infections across the continent has forced the PGA Tour to accept its galleries are likely to remain empty for the remainder of the year, a feature of the landscape that Woods has yet to experience.
“For most of my career, pretty much almost every competitive playing round that I’ve been involved in, I’ve had people around me, spectators yelling, a lot of movement inside the gallery with camera crews and media,” he said.
“Watching the players play over the last few weeks, that hasn’t been the case. That’s what the guys are saying now, that it’s a very different world out here, not to have the distractions, the noise, the excitement, the energy that the fans bring. It’s just a silent and different world.”
Though Woods made the cut at the Genesis Open in February, he finished last of the 66 who made it to the weekend, complaining of stiffness in his back. This is the reality for the greatest golfer of the age, a fused disc in the spine is ultimately a compromise fix for any professional athlete.
Woods emerged briefly at a charity exhibition in May and looked sharp alongside Phil Mickelson and gridiron greats Payton Manning and Tom Brady. He says he is tip top and ready to go here. As ever he receives top billing in a group with world No 1 Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka.
As much as Woods and the game would appreciate a Tiger win, the needs of his playing partners are arguably greater with both failing to contend since lockdown ended.
