Friendly course likely behind Tiger’s decision to play Buick

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/07/2009 (6208 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Barring any scheduling surprises, Tiger Woods is about to try something new.

He had played three weeks in a row on the PGA Tour in every season since he was a rookie — including a career-high five straight weeks in early 1999 — until last year, when two knee surgeries crimped his schedule.

That third consecutive tournament, however, has never been a major.

This year looks like it will be different. Woods decided to play this week at the Buick Open, where he is a two-time winner and has never finished worse than 11th in eight previous starts at Warwick Hills.

Next week is the Bridgestone Invitational, and while Woods has yet to make that official, he has never missed a World Golf Championship in America when he wasn’t on crutches. Besides, he is a six-time winner at Firestone, one of his favourite golf courses.

Then it’s off to Hazeltine for the PGA Championship, his last shot at winning a major this year.

That he chose to play the Buick Open was only a mild surprise. Woods likes the golf course, and although he ended a decade-old endorsement contract one year early because of the economy, there remains a sense of loyalty to his longtime relationship with Buick.

“We’ve had a great relationship with Tiger for nine years, and this is his way of showing that,” said Larry Peck, Buick-GMC’s national promotions manager. “He provides such a lift.”

Woods didn’t offer much insight on his website, saying only that he was looking forward to the Buick Open and “the golf course suits my eye,” a loose translation for “I see myself winning.”

What his appearance at Warwick Hills should not suggest is any sense of panic.

Woods has not played more than two weeks in a row since returning from reconstructive knee surgery. Even though he is leading the PGA Tour money list by more than US$500,000 and his three victories are more than anyone else, he has played only 10 times this year.

Some have suggested he needs to play more.

Then there was his last tournament, nothing short of a disaster. Woods played a six-hole stretch at Turnberry in 7-over-par and wound up missing the cut in the British Open by one shot, only his second missed cut in a major and his first weekend off in three years.

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Swing coach Hank Haney worked with him last week in Florida, then offered a self-deprecating assessment as he headed to the airport.

“He’s doing really good,” Haney said. “He had a bad tournament, and I’m getting fired.”

There is a sense of urgency this time of the year.

Woods is at the halfway point of his schedule — that includes The Presidents Cup, tournaments in Asia and Australia, and his Chevron World Challenge in December — but he has only two months left in the meat of the PGA Tour schedule. And there is only one major left.

— The Associated Press