POTOMAC, Md. — Tiger Woods dearly wants to play the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where he has won eight times and where the tournament will be played for a final time in August.
But Woods said Wednesday he will not alter his schedule to try to make the field if he does not qualify. He is playing this week’s Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac and The Open at Carnoustie in three weeks.
“It’s one of my goals to try and get in there, because I have won it eight times,” Woods said. “The thing is I have to really try and remind myself that what I’m coming back from with this — the injury that I’ve had and the procedure that I’ve had. I don’t want to play too much, but I need to play enough.
“So I added one event this year, I added Valspar (where he tied for second) because I only played two rounds at L.A. (The Genesis Open). So those are little things that I’ve done tweaking it. Made sure I played enough leading up to the Masters. I’ve got a game now that can play, so it’s a matter of pacing myself through here, The Open, maybe Bridgestone, and then you’ve got the PGA and the (FedEx Cup) playoffs are right there with the Ryder Cup on the back side, so that’s a lot of golf coming up in the future.
“Hopefully I can pace myself, get into the events and make sure I stay strong enough and fresh enough to play quite a few tournaments.”
A victory at TPC Potomac or at The Open takes care of qualifying for the Bridgestone. Short of that, Woods needs to be ranked among the top 50 in the world on either July 23 (when The Open ends) or July 30 (at the conclusion of the Canadian Open.)
If he were so inclined, Woods could add next week’s Greenbrier Classic, where he has played twice, or the Canadian Open, one of his 79 PGA Tour victories. But the Canadian follows The Open and precedes the WGC-Bridgestone. He’d then be looking at playing four straight with the PGA Championship at the end if he did qualify.
Woods is ranked 82nd in the world and based on the current Official World Golf Ranking projections and likely needs top 5 finishes at both tournaments he is playing in order to crack the top 50. The strength of field is relatively weak this week, so even a finish as high as second would only move Woods to 55th in the world.
And to do that well, Woods is going to need to putt better. That is why he’s been experimenting with a different model that he said he’s still unsure about employing during the tournament.
“I’m trying to find something that I can feel again like the swing of the putter, getting my body in the right positions and seeing the lines again,” said Woods, who has been using a TaylorMade Ardmore 3 in practice this week. “It’s just one of those things, once I start to get that ball rolling on my lines, then I’ll be back to putting like I was. I just have not been rolling it on my lines. And then on top of that, when they don’t roll on lines, then I have a hard time seeing my line and it’s a vicious cycle and just trying to get out of that cycle.”
The Scotty Cameron putter Woods has used for the majority of his career — including winning 13 majors — is still with him this week.
“What I have done over time is I’ve always putted with a heel-shafted putter as a training tool so I can have the same feel in my hands with my putter,” he said. “Well, this one (the TaylorMade) is kind of a blend between the two, not quite the heel-shafted and not quite a plumber’s neck (his normal Cameron putter), so I’m kind of right in between.”
Woods is making a push for the Bridgestone because the WGC event is moving from Akron, Ohio, to Memphis in 2019. Firestone Country Club will be getting a Champions Tour event.
“I would like to get in there one more time,” Woods said. “I know the Champions Tour (for players 50 and older) is going there, so eight more years from now I’ll be able to get a start and I don’t want to wait that long.”
Following the PGA, Woods would take a week off before embarking on the Northern Trust and the Dell Technologies Championship, the first two playoff events. He would need to be in the top 70 in FedEx points (he is currently 61st) in order to qualify for the BMW Championship, which be the first time for him to play three straight weeks. Then after a week off, he’d need to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Tour Championship.
The Ryder Cup — for which Woods is a vice captain and a consideration to be an at-large pick by captain Jim Furyk — follows a week later in France.
Woods is playing the first two rounds of the Quicken Loans event with Marc Leishman and Bill Haas. They tee off at 1:20 p.m. on Thursday and 8:20 a.m. on Friday.