Woods needs good week, good health

THE course is familiar to Tiger Woods. The circumstances are not.

Medinah is where Woods buried that 8-foot par putt on the 17th hole in 1999 to win the PGA Championship for the first time by holding off teenage Sergio Garcia. He returned to Medinah in 2006 and won the PGA Championship again, this time making history as the only player to win multiple majors in consecutive years. “I’ve had some good memories,” Woods said. What he needs now is good health and a good week at the BMW Championship. Otherwise, one of his best memories from last year will remain just that.

Woods withdrew last week after one round of the FedEx Cup playoffs opener, citing a mild strain of the oblique. That dropped him from No. 28 to No. 38 in the FedEx Cup because points are quadruple during the postseason.

The PGA Tour projects that he needs to finish at least 11th — he has only one top 10 since winning the Masters — to have any chance of being among the top 30 players who advance to the Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup finale and a shot at the $15 million bonus.

Woods is the defending champion at East Lake, capping off his comeback from four back surgeries with a vintage performance at the Tour Championship.

“I’m trying to win this tournament just like anybody else in this field, and trying to get to East Lake and trying to get to a place where a lot of things changed for me last year,” Woods said after his pro-am. “And hopefully, I can make that happen.” /