Tiger set to give it a go
After injury withdrawal last week, Woods says he’ll give it a try at Medinah
The course is familiar to Tiger Woods. The circumstances are not.
Medinah is where Woods sank an eightfoot par putt on the 17th hole in 1999 on his way to winning the PGA Championship for the first time.
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 playoff opener, citing a mild strain of an oblique muscle. 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
finish 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 last year.
‘‘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.’’
That it even might happen is a mild surprise. Woods said he didn’t feel right last week in New Jersey, and it showed when he didn’t hit full shots on the back nine in a pro-am round. When he withdrew with the oblique injury after a 75 in the first round, it seemed as though that might be the end of his season. But he showed up Tuesday at Medinah, only to start this week in the same way as last week.
‘‘Took the back nine off, chipped and putted quite a bit,’’ Woods said.
He then added his body ‘‘definitely doesn’t feel like it did Friday, that’s for sure.’’
‘‘It was nice to take those days off,’’ he said, referring to his three-day weekend from withdrawing. ‘‘I had to just let it calm down and get a bunch of treatment on it, and it feels so much better.’’
Woods attributed the injury to slight changes he has made in his swing to alleviate pressure from a fused lower back.
‘‘As I’ve said before, the forces have got to go somewhere,’’ he said. ‘‘Unfortunately, when I make any kind of tweaks and changes to my swing, it’s like a new body part is aching. Unfortunately, I can’t play around the back like I used to. And, unfortunately, things flare up.’’