As golf fans await word on whether Tiger Woods will compete in the next two majors, he has committed to playing in the JP McManus Pro-Am in Limerick, Ireland on July 4-5. The charity event is being held just over one week before the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland.
Woods, who ended a 17-month layoff from golf by making the cut at the 2022 Masters last week, committed to playing The Open on Sunday following his 72 holes at Augusta National. He is likely playing the pro-am, held at Adare Manor, as a means of preparation for the season's final major, an anniversary edition of The Open being held at Woods' "favorite course in the world".
Whether The Open will be the next professional golf event Woods plays remains to be seen. He told SkySports on Sunday that he will never play a full schedule again but rather focus on getting ready for significant tournaments.
The 2022 PGA Championship is next on the calendar in May, and like The Open, it is being held at a location all too familiar for Woods. Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Tiger won the 2007 PGA, is serving as host. Between those major championships is the 2022 U.S. Open in June at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Likely contributing to Woods' hesitancy to commit to events before July is his play over the final 36 holes at the Masters. Though he continued his made cuts streak at the Masters for his 22nd straight appearance as a professional, Woods shot matching 6-over 78s on Saturday and Sunday, the two worst rounds of his career at Augusta. Furthermore, he was noticeably limping through the weekend, often using an iron as a cane to support his surgically-repaired right leg.
The 15-time major champion teed it up at the Masters just 14 months after being involved in a serious car wreck that nearly led to the loss of his limb. Tiger being able to compete at the Masters at all was a remarkable feat, and while playing 72 holes anywhere would have been impressive, doing so at a hilly course like Augusta National was quite an accomplishment.
Still, Woods likely needs time to recover and rehabilitate from that effort, which means decisions on the PGA Championship and U.S. Open may not be made until much closer to those respective majors.
St. Andrews is notably flat, and given its wide-open fairways, it should make for a far more comfortable trek for Woods. Considering his experience playing the course, Tiger likely sees this as an opportunity to not only perform well but do so at a historic tournament given it is the 150th anniversary of the event at its most famous host site.
