A different, quiet PGA Tour greets Woods’ return

Tiger Woods makes his long-awaited return to competitive golf at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, this week and no golfer will feel the impact of the strange new world without spectators created by COVID-19 than the 15-time major winner.

For his whole career Woods, one of sport’s most recognizable personalities, has been the focus of the golfing world. He is followed by massive galleries and battalions of reporters, photographers and television cameras wherever he plays.

But when he steps onto the first tee at Muirfield Village Golf Club on Thursday for his first competitive round in five months the only sound is likely to be chirping birds, with the PGA Tour having banned spectators for all events this season.

“I’ve had cameras on me since I turned pro, so it’s been over 20-some-odd years that virtually almost every one of my shots that I’ve hit on the Tour has been documented,” Woods said. “That is something that I’ve been accustomed to. That’s something I’ve known for decades.

“But this is a different world and one we’re going to have to get used to. It’s just a silent and different world.”

Woods last competed on the PGA Tour in midFebruary when he labored through a final-round 77 at the Genesis Invitational where he finished last among players who made the cut.

The 44-year-old reigning Masters champion then skipped a number of events with back issues prior to the PGA Tour’s three-month COVID-19 hiatus. Saying he was unwilling to risk a return to the Tour until he saw how safety protocols would work, Woods made his decision to play only when he felt comfortable.