Woods hopes balky back holds up in playoffs
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Tiger Woods is plenty rested going into the Fedex Cup playoffs.
Whether he’s ready is a dayto-day thing.
Woods stopped hitting full shots on the back nine of Liberty National on Wednesday during his pro-am round for The Northern Trust, a precautionary move during a year in which he repeatedly has said he can’t always predict how his back is going to feel.
“Just feeling stiff, being smart about it,” Woods said. “As I said to you guys all year, this is how it is. Some days I’m stiffer than others. Yesterday I was out there hitting it great. Today I’m stiff. Hopefully, I’m not that way tomorrow.”
He also didn’t sound overly concerned.
Woods is willing to accept that a 43-year-old back that has gone through four surgeries in five years is not going to feel like it once did. He also looked back to the spring, when he took an extra week off in March and then chipped and putted when he arrived at Augusta National for nine holes. By the end of the week, he was the Masters champion. Since winning the Masters in April, Tiger Woods has played in only four events -- three of them majors.
As much as Woods has tried to take time off, he can only hope he faces the busiest part of the year.
The Northern Trust begins the lucrative Fedex Cup playoffs, starting with two tournaments with $9.25 million purses and ending at the Tour Championship for the top 30 players competing for the $15 million prize.
Woods is at No. 28, the lowest position of the four major champions, primarily because he hasn’t played all that much. Since he won a fifth green jacket at the Masters, he has played just four times, three of them majors.
Now he faces three straight weeks if he gets to the Tour Championship, a goal for reasons other than a shot at $15
million. Woods completed his remarkable comeback last year at East Lake by winning for the first time in five years, a big moment for him and for golf.
But he has to play well to get there.
Points are quadrupled for the playoff events to add volatility. That means Pat Perez, who earned the 125th and final spot in the postseason by two points, could win this week and move to as high as No. 2 in the standings.
The top 70 advance next week to Medinah for the BMW Championship, and the top 30 make it to the Tour Championship. Woods sounded as concerned about getting to East Lake as what it would take to reach the Fedex Cup finale.
“If you’re missing cuts, who cares? You’re taking weekends off and a couple extra days of rest,” he said. “But I’m trying to get myself where I’m in contention, where it takes a toll on you, and that’s what I want to feel. I want to feel that type of tiredness where I have a chance to win. That’s a good feeling.”
PGA champion Brooks Koepka is the No. 1 seed and coming off his third victory of the season at the Fedex St. Jude Invitational, his first World Golf Championship title. Koepka has established himself firmly as No. 1 in the world, which guarantees nothing over the next three weeks. Only three times has a player who started the Fedex Cup playoffs at No. 1 wound up winning: Jordan Spieth in 2015 and Woods in 2007 and 2009.