Tiger Woods wants to play golf again and plans a fiery spring and summer by putting five tournaments on his agenda: the Jack Nicklaus Memorial, from June 4 to 7, at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio; the US Open (major), June 18-21, in Chambers Bay, Washington; the Greenbrier Classic, July 2-5, in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia; the Open Championship (major), from to 19 July, on the Old Course of St. Andrews, in Scotland; the Quicken Loans National, from July 30 to August 2, a tournament sponsored by the champion himself.
It is unusual for the former world number one to announce his race calendar well in advance. It is the sign that Tiger wants to regain a prominent place in world competitive golf and to qualify for the Playoffs of the FedexCup, the grand finale of the American championship, from which he is currently excluded due to his place in the standings, 196th, while the limit of participants is 125.
Among other things, to these five events we must add another two, if not three: The Players, the championship that takes place next week and which is considered by all to be the fifth major (to which Tiger has already signed up); The WGC Bridgestone Invitational August 6-9; the Pga Championship, which closes the chapter of the grand slam from 13 to 16 August.
Almost all the competitions scheduled by the champion are included in his palmares: he won the Memorial five times, in '99, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2012; the US Open three times, 2000, 2002, 2008; the British three times, 2000, 2005, 2006; the Quicken in 2009 and 2012.
If his words of a few months ago are still true when, after the umpteenth withdrawal from the competition, he said he would return to the field only to compete at the highest levels, it is to be believed that the champion feels ready. At the Masters things went well, Woods took a decent 17th place and above all he showed a good short game, denying those who thought he was doomed and affected by Yips, the involuntary movement that prevents a golfer under stress from making the desired shot . In short, one can be optimistic and the presence of Toger is very good for golf.
All this while the new US star, Jordan Spieth, 21, starting tonight will try to snatch the world number one crown from his European rival Rory McIlroy (26). Woods thinks he'll soon play the third wheel and is preparing to do battle in the coming months, in spite of his 40 years, which will also arrive inexorably in December.
