Tiger Watch
We know where Tiger Woods' next 'start' will come—in the star-studded Seminole Pro-Member
Ben Jared
In a field packed with recognizable names from a variety of professions, the vaunted Seminole Pro-Member tournament that is set for Monday boasts the biggest figure in all of golf: Tiger Woods.
On the tee sheet posted on X by @5ClubsGolf for the two-person best-ball competition, Woods is teamed with PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh in a foursome with two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and Mike Walrath, the chairman and CEO of the software company Yext.
And how’s this for back-to- back groups? Just in front of Woods, NFL great Tom Brady is playing with partner Tony Finau, alongside the team of Ernie Els and South African businessman Johann Rupert.
Woods will be in action after having to withdraw while suffering from the flu during the second round of the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational in mid-February.
The Seminole Pro-Member started in 1937 at the highly exclusive Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., ranked No. 10 in Golf Digest’s current America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses. The event attracts some of the top pros as they prep for the week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. For some golfers, it will be their only tournament of the week, because in the new tour landscape, the API is a $20 million signature event with only 70 or so players in the field.
Rory McIlroy, who is one of the few highly ranked players competing in this week’s Cognizant Classic, will play the Seminole with his father, Gerry. Also in their group is fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington and Ed Herlihy, chairman of the PGA Tour.
The field is otherwise stacked with other top players, including major winners Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick and Nelly Korda.
As for high-powered businessmen, there are plenty. Jimmy Dunne III, the Seminole club president who joined the PGA Tour policy board in 2022, was a key powerbroker who joined commissioner Jay Monahan in coming to the controversial framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s PIF. He is playing on Monday with Kiwi tour pro Ryan Fox. Most will recognize the name Chuck Schwab, the namesake of the investment firm he founded and a sizeable financial supporter of the PGA Tour.
