PGA Tour: Will Tiger Woods Make The FedEx Cup Playoffs?

Tiger Woods made his return last week at the Quicken Loans National and he looked as you might expect. He looked like a golfer who hadn’t played competitively in over three months. Coming off major back surgery it was a huge accomplishment that he just played last week way ahead of schedule, but he looked very rusty.

Obviously, the big questions surrounding his return is whether or not he will win a major this year, but also, will Tiger Woods make the FedEx Cup playoffs? Let’s break it down a bit.

In order to make the first playoff event you have to be within the top 125. Right now, Woods sits in 208th place and is 303 points behind the 125th place spot (which is currently held by Nick Watney). I’ll put it this way, right now, Woods is behind Mark Calcavecchia, Freddy Couples, and Bernhard Langer. That’s how far back Woods is currently. With all that said, don’t count out Woods just yet.

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It only takes one successful tournament to jump into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Just take a look at Shawn Stefani, who lost a playoff to Justin Rose this past week, Stefani was out of the playoffs. Stefani heading into the Quicken Loans National was 155th in the FedEx Cup point standings. With that second place finish he jumped all the way up to 77th. It only takes one tournament.

On the flip side, Woods has played a limited schedule in the past and this year looks like it’ll be the same. Woods won’t play this week at The Greenbrier Classic, and it doesn’t look like he’ll play the John Deere Classic two weeks from now. Woods will play – barring anything crazy happening – the British Open, obviously. That’s 100% locked in, but then you run down the schedule and if history tells us anything he’ll play the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and he’ll play the PGA Championship.

Again, that could change, maybe he’ll sneak in the RBC Canadian Open or maybe the Reno-Tahoe Open, but that doesn’t look likely based on his playing history. Does that hurt his chances? Of course, but again, it only takes one tournament and major championships are worth 600 points if you win and WGC events are worth 550 points with a win (regular PGA events are worth 500 points).

It seems as though it would really benefit him if he beefed up his schedule just a bit. He looked very rusty at the Quicken Loans National and competing in more events would not only help his FedEx Cup Playoff chances, but also his chances of winning a major this year.

Basically, what I’m saying is, it’s a yin and yang type thing. Woods not competing in more tournaments isn’t that big of a concern regarding his playoff chances, but it seems as though it would benefit him and give him the best chance to actually compete at the British Open, at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and at the PGA Championship.

Of course, this is all just speculation and I’m on the outside looking in. Woods and his team know what’s best for him. Now, for the question, will Tiger Woods make the FedEx Cup playoffs?

Personally, I don’t think he makes the playoffs. If Woods only plays the three tournaments, then I don’t think Woods makes the playoffs. I just don’t think he’ll be ready to compete at the highest level. I think his game will be off, much like how it was this past week.

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