Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour return will now be further delayed
Tiger Woods was scheduled to make his long-awaited return to the PGA Tour this week, but he has withdrawn from the Safeway Open.
Tiger Woods was slated to return to competitive golf this week at the Safeway Open at Silverado Country Club in Napa, California. On Monday, the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas even posted 40-1 odds he would win the tournament.
But things changed later in the day Monday, and Woods has withdrawn from the tournament.
Woods was selected as a vice captain of the United States Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota two weeks ago, and he apparently turned down attempts from team members to hit a few shots.
Woods has been beset by injuries in recent years, most notably multiple back surgeries that have kept him off the PGA Tour since he tied for 10th at the Wyndham Championship in August of 2015. Health would be an easy reason for a late withdrawal this week. But Golf Channel analyst Notah Begay III, who is a close friend of Woods and former college teammate at Stanford, suggests otherwise.
Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte, who first reported the news of Woods’ withdrawal, passed along a similar sentiment.
NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller is the tournament host in Napa this week, and he offered his typical brand of candor regarding Woods.
Woods had been slated to play the first two rounds this week with Phil Mickelson, which surely would have drawn huge galleries to a marquee group. As expected on the news of Woods’ return to action, Golf Channel.com reported Safeway Open ticket sales have doubled compared to 2015.
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Woods has committed to two more upcoming events, the Turkish Airlines Open on Nov. 3-6 and the Hero World Challenge on Dec. 1-4. It’s now unclear if he’ll play in those events, particularly if he is unhappy with the state of his game. If his expectations remain high, and quite possibly unrealistic, there’s some chance Woods will never play a PGA Tour event again.