Tiger Woods reveals his 2018 debut
T-minus 21 days and counting.
The countdown to Tiger Woods’ official return to the PGA Tour can begin now that Woods has confirmed via Twitter that he will play in the Farmers Insurance Open, Jan. 25-28 at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego.
Woods also announced his second event of the year will be the Genesis Open, Feb. 15-18 at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles.
Excited to start my season off in SoCal at @FarmersInsOpen and @genesisopen. https://t.co/TaX9wjAeFN
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) January 4, 2018
The decision to play at Torrey Pines was widely expected. Woods has eight professional wins on the course — seven Farmers Insurance titles and the 2008 U.S. Open championship.
Tournament officials were thrilled with the news that Woods was returning to the event.
“It’s awesome,” Farmers Insurance Open tournament director Peter Ripa told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “There’s a feeling that this comeback is different, with the eye test we got at the Hero World Challenge. He hit shots, he looked strong. There’s a national anticipation for this.”
.@TigerWoods has committed to play in the @FarmersInsOpen and the @GenesisOpen!https://t.co/GibJb606iC pic.twitter.com/sgdKkxkr2f
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 4, 2018
The decision to play the Genesis Open was a bit of a surprise since Woods has not played at Riviera since 2006. But his foundation hosts the event, so he was going to be on hand whether he played or not.
Woods made his PGA Tour debut as an amateur at Riviera in 1992.
“I’m very excited to be back at Riviera,” Woods said in a statement. “I haven’t played at Riviera in a tournament in a very long time. To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it’s a dream come true.”
Woods has not played an official PGA Tour event since he missed the cut at last year’s Farmers Insurance Open. After having spinal fusion surgery in April, Woods made his return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge last month in the Bahamas. He finished tied for ninth in a field of 18 golfers.
Last week, Woods said he was hesitant to commit to a specific number of tournaments for the coming year.
“I would love to play a full schedule in 2018,” wrote Woods just a week ago. “What that entails, including back-to-back events, I don’t know. I just have to continue to work on my body and game and see where I pan out.”
If Woods gets through the events at Torrey Pines and Riviera without any health concerns, his next event would likely be March 15-18 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.
If all goes well there, Woods would almost certainly focus his preparation on a return to the Masters at Augusta National, April 5-8.
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