Tiger Woods’ next start? Not knowing is the hardest part

CLEARWATER, Fla. — As Tiger Woods discussed the next phase of his career at a news conference Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, some of his fellow middle-aged pros were doing the same thing at a Florida golf club some 350 miles away.

Speaking to reporters this morning, Woods reflected on his recovery from October’s lumbar disc replacement surgery (“not as fast as I would have liked”) and his 2026 What the 2020 tournament schedule might look like (“I’m still a long way from that part”); meanwhile, his peers — the six members of the U.S. team competing in the Skechers World Champions Cup at Feathersound Country Club — speculate on what the PGA Tour Champions might look like if Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, joins the fray next year, even if he only plays a handful of events.

“I think what we should do is potentially challenge him,” Jim Furyk said wryly. “I don’t think he can hang around in these three rounds. Maybe he’ll get angry and fight a bunch of fights. I honestly don’t think he can handle Stuart Cink.

To this, Zink responded: “He’s dealt with me many times before. It doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

But then Steve Fleisch, one of the four player directors on the PGA Tour Champions board of directors, offered a more nuanced view, noting that everyone from players to tournament directors to PGA Tour Champions chairman Miller Brady is eager to understand Woods’ intentions.

“But, I mean, everyone here knows with this latest surgery, it’s just that Tiger doesn’t really share much,” Fresh said. “With the exception of a few people here who may be good friends with him or talk to him occasionally, he just doesn’t share his plans.”

Fresh reminded everyone that Woods has always been like this, dating back to his regular playing days, when he was notorious for not playing in tournaments until minutes before Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline. “I think he commits around 4:58 most of the time,” Flesch said. “Other than the tournaments that you know he’s going to play in, like the Memorial, Torrey Pines, his main events, he rarely jumps into a game too early.”

There’s a potential logistical headache here if Woods decides to start at the senior circuit at the 11th hour

“This creates a huge challenge for our tournament directors,” Flesch said. “When he suddenly decided to go to Des Moines, Iowa (I didn’t know if he wanted to) or Madison to attend Steve’s event, that was a big change.”

Flesch was referring to the American Family Insurance Championship hosted by Steve Stricker at TPC Wisconsin in June. These smaller markets aren’t used to the kind of activity that Tiger Woods (yes, even 50-year-old Tiger Woods) generates.

“That’s a huge build difference,” Flesch continued. “A lot of people are going to come see Tiger Woods because he hasn’t been to those markets. We’re hoping he can play in some of those tournaments. There’s talk that he might focus on the majors, but selfishly, to help our tour, we’d like him to go to Madison and Des Moines and some of the smaller markets where it would really have a big impact, where a lot of people who have never seen Tiger Woods play golf will see him in person. Your guess is the same. We really won’t know.

When Fresh stopped talking, someone from the back of the room jokingly yelled, “Friday at five!”

“Friday at 5 p.m.,” Fleisch repeated. “Hualalai is our first race next year where he’s eligible for Kona. But his health, his back, we’re hoping he can show up. I think we’ll know at 5 p.m. on Friday the week before.”