Tiger Woods says that he will take an extended leave of absence from the PGA Tour while his father battles cancer. It is possible that he will not play another event until the US Open.
Tiger currently is in New Zealand for the wedding of his caddy Steve Williams. He is also scheduled to take part in a charity car race there.
Woods said, however, that he definitely will play in the US Open at Winged Foot in June.
While his father’s illness is an extraordinary circumstance, I believe that the golf world should get used to Tiger taking long stretches off. He’s in a position where he can afford to play only in those tournaments that interest him. He could play in the four majors, his own tournament, plus a couple of others that he either likes or that he is contractually obligated to play in. He doesn’t need to play in the PGA required minimum. He’s not going to need their retirement plan, and he doesn’t need to be a member to play in tournaments—the sponsors will give him an exemption.
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I would agree in that Tiger will back away from pretty much everything but the majors, except doesn’t that mean he would be giving the FedEx cup to someone else?
I also think that if Tiger limits his play in such a way, then he may not get to Jack’s records. Even if his focus was not distracted by his father, it is hard to believe that Phil or Vijay could not build a momentum going into the Open that would be tough for Tiger to overcome? The pressure on Tiger will be increased in those first two rounds as he will not have played in over a month, and he might have trouble mounting a Tiger charge every saturday morning of a major.
I actually think that Tiger won’t be playing by the time he is 40.
I agree with you on Tiger at 40. I’ve thought this for some time.
I think that he burns very, very brightly for a short time, and then quits.
He should have Jack’s (and Sam’s) records well before that time, anyway.