Woods fails to qualify for Tour Championship but will participate in Ryder Cup
Tiger Woods will not be participating in the PGA Tour Championship, which starts on 26 September. It’s the first tournament that he has not qualified for in his professional career.
After realizing that many top golfers were deciding to not take part in the last few tournaments of the season because the bigger tournaments had already been played, the PGA decided to add a playoff format to their schedule in 2007. The top 125 golfers are invited to play in the first of four playoff tournaments. That number is reduced to 30 by the final event, the Tour Championship. This format encourages players to participate in smaller events in order to keep their place in the FedEx Cup Standings, and earn a spot in the playoff tournaments.
Woods made it to the third round of the playoffs, the BMW Championship, which was held last Sunday in Illinois. Going into the tournament, Woods was ranked 51st in the FedEx Cup rankings, and after finishing in 15th place in the BMW Championship, he rose to 42nd place, but it wasn’t enough to put him into the final event of the season.
Woods needed to finish in fifth place or higher to qualify for the Tour Championship. He birdied four holes on the back nine on the final day, but his three bogeys on the front nine sunk any chances he had of getting into the top five. He finished one-under par, but needed to be at six-under par to earn a high enough ranking to be invited to the Tour Championship.
"That's just the way it is," Woods said. "I didn’t play well early in the year and I didn't play well in the middle of the year."
Dustin Johnson won the BMW Championship by one stroke over Paul Casey in an exciting come-from-behind victory. Johnson parred the first seven holes of the back nine before getting a birdie on the 17th hole to take a one stroke lead. Casey bogeyed three holes on the back nine after opening the day with five birdies in his first 12 holes. Both golfers parred the last hole to give Johnson a one stroke victory.
Woods will be a part of the US team at the Ryder Cup.
Woods will take part in the Ryder Cup in October as part of the American team after its captain, Corey Pavin, selected Woods with one of his captain’s pick. It will be Woods’ sixth Ryder Cup appearance.
He’ll be spending time at home practising the areas of his game that need improving before joining his teammates.
"I'm starting to play well now," Woods said. "I'm headed in the right direction, which is good, a lot of good signs, and I just need to keep working and stay the course."
Woods played in only 12 tournaments this year, fewer than any other golfer in the top 100. His off-course troubles have been well documented, and have obviously made a significant impact on both his play and his availability. He has seen improvement in his swing recently after working on it with swing coach, Sean Foley.
"I can practice at home with Sean in peace and away from everybody and put some work in and also work on my short game and my putting, things I have not been able to do out here," Woods said. "It'll be nice to work on all these little things and concentrate on my game a little bit more and sharpen up."
Woods won the Tour Championship in 1999 and 2007, he has also won two of the three FedEx Cups, 2007 and 2009, losing only to Vijay Singh in 2008.
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