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Tiger Woods commits to play at Torrey Pines and Riviera to start his 2018 PGA Tour season
Mike Ehrmann
Tiger Woods will begin his season at a familiar place, choosing Torrey Pines as the site of his first start of 2018. On Thursday, Woods announced his commitment to play in the Farmers Insurance Open Jan. 25-28 as well as next month's Genesis Open.
Woods sat out most of 2017 with a bad back, undergoing a fourth surgery in April. He returned to action at the Hero World Challenge Nov. 30 and finished T-9 in a field of 18 players. Woods' last official PGA Tour start came at last year's Farmers Insurance Open, where he missed the cut. He is currently No. 656 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Previously, Woods wrote on his website that he "would love to play a full schedule in 2018," but his only guarantee that he would be at Riviera for the Genesis Open either as a player or a host, because his foundation runs the tournament.
"Now, I feel I’ve taken it to another level. I’ve started practicing again and was out with Justin the other day and had a good time. I’m continuing to progress and trying to get strong enough to where I can handle a workload again. I would love to play a full schedule in 2018," Woods wrote on Dec. 29. "What that entails, including back-to-back events, I don’t know. I just have to continue to work on my body and game and see where I pan out. I wish I knew where I was going to play and when I was going to play – it’s a lot easier to prep for that – but we really don’t know. This is all unchartered territory."
Woods, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Dec. 30, has 79 career PGA Tour titles, the last of which came at the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He's won eight times at Torrey Pines, including the last of his 14 major championship victories at the 2008 U.S. Open.