Woods will start the season at Torrey Pines
Tiger Woods has won at Torrey Pines eight times in his career, with a 2008 U.S. Open title to go along with seven wins at the PGA Tour’s annual early season stop at the course overlooking the Pacific Ocean just north of San Diego. So it came as little surprise to learn that he will begin his 2019 season there at the Farmers Insurance Open, which tees off Jan. 24.
The PGA Tour confirmed the news to tournament director Peter Ripa on Wednesday, according to the San Diego Union Tribune, and Woods acknowledged the news on Twitter.
Healed after multiple back operations, Woods surged back into the public eye on the golf course in 2018 after a four-year span that saw him play in just six majors, making the cut in only two of them and finishing higher than 69th place just once.
He tied for sixth at the U.S. Open and then placed second at the PGA Championship, two shots behind winner Brooks Koepka. It was his highest finish at a major in nine years. Woods then capped his season by winning the Tour Championship, his 80th PGA Tour victory and first since 2013, which also was the last time he won at Torrey Pines (he finished in a tie for 23rd last year).
Woods, who turned 43 on Dec. 30, said last month that his 2019 schedule will not be as taxing as it was in 2018, when he also played in the Ryder Cup — contributing zero points in four matches — and in a head-to-head duel with Phil Mickelson on the day after Thanksgiving.
“I’m not going to play as many as I did this year [2018],” Woods said, per ESPN. “I played in too many this year. And that was from adding an event because I missed the cut at L.A. [Genesis Open] to qualifying to get into Akron [WGC-Bridgestone]. Who knew I could make it through all the playoff events. So all those events told a lot. I won’t be playing as much as I did last year.”
Woods’ next announced tournament will be in February at the Genesis Open. The plan, according to ESPN’s Bob Harig, is to play five or six times before the Masters begins on April 11.
Lowry leads with a 62: In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Irish golfer Shane Lowry rolled in 10 birdies and did not drop a shot in the first round to shoot a 10under 62 at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Wednesday, giving him a threestroke lead in the European Tour’s opening event.
Pablo Larrazabal, the 2014 champion in Abu Dhabi, finished eagle-birdiebirdie to complete a fourway tie for second place at 65 with Louis Oosthuizen, Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Richard Sterne.
Three-time winner Martin Kaymer was in a five-man group a further shot back, while second-ranked Brooks Koepka shot a bogey-free 67.