Tiger Woods: Predicting his 2019 PGA TOUR schedule
1) Farmers Insurance Open – Torrey Pines (January 24-27)
This one is basically a no-brainer. Tiger has won at Torrey Pines eight times, including seven titles in this very event. He’s basically taken up residence at the scenic oceanside course in La Jolla, California, to the point where he’ll be a prohibitive favorite the moment he commits.
The weather in the San Diego is almost always immaculate, and even when it’s not perfect, it rarely calls for more than a light sweater until the morning marine layer breaks up. If you can find someone taking bets on whether Tiger commits to the Farmers Insurance Open, put your life savings on it.
2) Genesis Open – Riviera C.C. (February 14-17)
Okay, so this isn’t much of a stretch, because Woods himself has already said he’s playing here. But it does keep him in Southern California for a few weeks early in the year, as well as giving him two full weeks of rest between starts. Hard to argue with the logic of this plan.
That being said, we’ll have to wait and see if he can figure out a way to improve on his record at Riviera. “I love the golf course, I love the layout, it fits my eye – and I play awful,” Tiger said ahead of the 2018 Genesis. “It’s very simple, it’s just one of those weird things.”
To be fair, “awful” is relative when we’re talking about an 80-time PGA TOUR winner. His missed cut in 2018 was his first at Riviera as a professional, and he’s got seven top-20 finishes, including a tie for second in 1999 on his record.
Riviera is still a tight track, meaning Woods will need to be dialed in early to compete. But we’ll worry about form when the time comes. Lock this one in on your calendar in permanent marker.
3) WGC-Mexico – Club de Golf Chapultepec (February 21-24)
Oddly enough, this is one of the events I’m least certain of on this potential calendar. I have a hard time predicting Tiger Woods to miss any World Golf Championships events that he’s qualified and healthy for, but this might be a spot for a break.
These days, Tiger doesn’t really need to worry about the bonus world ranking points for the strength of the field, and there’s a big stretch of golf immediately following this event. More on that in a moment.
If this was still the WGC-Cadillac at Doral, I’d have no doubt about this, but I could easily see a scenario in which Tiger passes on a trip south of the border. I’m leaving this in pencil, but only because of what’s to come.