Tiger Woods commits to another tournament early in 2017
Tiger Woods is going to play a lot of golf in the early part of 2017.
He’s going to be flying a lot, too.
On Thursday, Woods committed to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club, a European Tour event played Feb. 2-5. That will entail a trip spanning 12 times zones after Woods makes his 2017 debut at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego Jan. 26-29.
Woods also will go coast-to-coast and back-to-back with starts in the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles Feb. 16-19 and the Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Feb. 23-26.
That’s four tournaments in five weeks for a man who missed more than a year after having two surgeries to his back in the fall of 2015.
Woods won the Dubai Desert Classic in 2006 and 2008. He’s won a record eight times at Torrey Pines, including the 2008 U.S. Open, the last of his 14 major championships.
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“I've always enjoyed playing in Dubai and it’s fantastic to see how the city has grown phenomenally from when I first started playing there,” Woods said in a press release announcing the commitment. “When you win in Dubai, you know you’ve beaten an outstanding field.”
Woods will join Rory McIlroy, reigning British Open winner Henrik Stenson and reigning Masters champion Danny Willett in the Dubai Desert Classic.
The field is stellar for the Farmers Insurance Open, as well, including world No. 1 Jason Day, defending tournament champion Brandt Snedeker, reigning U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, reigning PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler and three-time Farmers champion Phil Mickelson.
Woods hasn’t won anywhere in the world since the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
He last played on the PGA Tour in the 2015 Wyndham Championship, where he tied for 10th. The winner of 79 Tour titles made his return to competitive golf a month ago in the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. He finished 15th in the field of 18 but he, along with winner Matsuyama, led the field with 24 birdies.