Tiger Woods will return to PGA TOUR action for the first time in four months after the 82-time winner committed to next week’s the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. Woods, a five-time winner of the Memorial Tournament, joins the field at Muirfield Village for his first official PGA TOUR event since he hosted the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles at Riviera Country Club in February. It will also mark Woods’ first start since the COVID-19 pandemic began shortly thereafter. Chasing a record 83rd TOUR win to break out of a tie with Sam Snead atop the all-time wins list, Woods was last seen in action at Capital One’s The Match: Champions for Charity on May 24, when he and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady at Medalist Golf Club. Woods has played at Muirfield Village 17 times in his career, winning the tournament in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 and 2012. He has never missed the cut at Muirfield and has further top 10 finishes in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2019. Woods was also a member of the U.S. Presidents Cup team that won at Muirfield Village in 2013. Clearly he likes the place that Jack (Nicklaus) built. “I’ve always enjoyed Muirfield. I’ve always tried to play at Jack’s events. What he’s meant to the TOUR and he’s meant to all of us has players, I’ve always tried to support his events and I just happened to play well on his golf courses too,” Woods said in 2018. “Whether it’s here or most of the Nicklaus Design courses that we play, I seem to play them well. But this one in particular is very special to him, it’s very special to us as players. Obviously because of what he’s done to the golf course, but more so what he’s meant to us as players.” Currently Woods sits 41st in the FedExCup and 14th in the world rankings. He got the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season off to a roaring start with a victory at the inaugural ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan last October. As playing captain, he led the U.S. to a come-from-behind win at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in December. He tied for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open on one of his favorite courses, Torrey Pines. Woods, 44, then struggled on the weekend at the Genesis to finish 68th, and later revealed that he was having mobility issues with his surgically fused back. He skipped The Honda Classic and did not play the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, another of his favorite events. He also didn’t feel well enough for THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, where he is a two-time champion. That event was eventually canceled after the first round due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, though, Woods is ready to go again. The pandemic hit the pause button on the season and has given Woods time to get well physically. He looked like his old self at The Match at Medalist, his home course, as he hit fairways and led his team to victory.
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