Tiger Woods set to tee off as single man again

Posted by OM Breaking News, Tiger Woods 9:35 PM

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LOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods tees off today as a single man again, desperate to recapture some form and eke out the top 50 finish that would guarantee his presence in the next round of the PGA Tour play-offs. Up until last November when a whirl of extra-marital affairs brought his world tumbling down, Woods’ qualification would have been a fait accompli, but so poor has he been of late that nothing is for certain. With his divorce from ex-wife Elin Nordegren official from Monday,

The Barclays provides the world number one with a chance to turn the page and reverse the downward spiral that has left his golf game in ruins. Failure to make the top 57 however would mean the end of Woods’ PGA season and he would have to cross his fingers that Corey Pavin sees past the furor surrounding his private life and makes him a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup.

Since returning to competitive golf four months ago at The Masters following the blistering sex scandal, Woods has not come close to winning a tournament.

At the Bridgestone Invitational earlier this month, he turned in the worst performance of his career, finishing second last in a tie for 78th. The 14-time major winner, who had won the event seven times previously, shot 18-over par and finished an embarrassing 30 shots behind eventual winner Hunter Mahan.
At this week’s tournament in New Jersey, Woods, in the unusual position of being 112th in the PGA points race, needs to finish 57th or better to make it through to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

The top 100 are then whittled down to just 70 for the BMW Championship, before the leading 30 qualify for the season ending Tour Championship finale in Atlanta starting on Sept 23.

Woods is also hoping to earn enough qualifying points for the Ryder Cup, the biennial event against Europe’s best golfers which will be battled out this year at Celtic Manor in Wales in October. — AFP

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