Woods confirmed as playing Fedex Cup play-off event

Tiger Woods has confirmed that he will contest next week’s Northern Trust, the first of three Fedex Cup playoff events which complete the PGA Tour’s 2019-20 season.

Woods is 47th in the Fedex Cup standings and is set to drop a few places following the conclusion of this week’s Wyndham Championship.

The top 70 after the Northern Trust at TPC Boston qualify for the second event, the BMW Championship in Chicago, but only the top 30 after that advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, won last year by Rory Mcilroy.

Woods has played just four tournaments in 2020 and finished in a tie for 37th in the US PGA Championship in San Francisco.

If he plays all three playoff events the 44-year-old will have just one week off before the rescheduled US Open at Winged Foot from September 17-20.

The 15-time major winner missed the cut when the US Open was last staged at Winged Foot in June 2006, his first event following the death of his father Earl in May.

Meanwhile the European Tour has announced that the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open will be played at Galgorm Castle Golf Club from September 24-27.

It will be the first time the County Antrim venue has hosted the tournament but the fourth time it has been staged in Northern Ireland since 2012.

The tournament was originally scheduled to take place at Mount Juliet from May 28-31, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and has now moved into the slot vacated by the postponement of the Ryder Cup.

With quarantine restrictions for travellers into the Republic of Ireland and the ban on mass gatherings ongoing, the decision was made to move the tournament to Northern Ireland, where it will be subject to similar guidelines to the current ‘UK Swing’ events, including being played behind closed doors.

The prize fund has been reduced from £5.9million to £1.1m and the tournament will therefore not be part of the Rolex Series.

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said: “The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is an integral part of the European Tour’s schedule and despite the obvious challenges of staging any event in the current circumstances, we felt it was important to continue with the tournament providing we could do so safely.

“We did that, first and foremost with the support of Colm Mcloughlin and everyone involved with our title sponsor Dubai Duty Free who once again showed commitment and understanding of the current global situation, and proved what a wonderful partner of the European Tour they are.

“We also did it with the support of the Northern Ireland Executive who deserve our sincere thanks.”