Tiger Woods to skip WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational after Open MC
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Tiger Woods: “I just want to go home”
Tiger Woods has confirmed he will not be playing the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis after missing the cut at The Open for just the third time in 21 career starts.
The 15-time champion shot rounds of 77 and 70 to finish on six-over-par at Royal Portrush, and blamed fatigue as he sought to explain his absence from the final WGC event of the PGA Tour season.
“I just want some time off just to get away from it,” said Tiger, who had admitted to feeling “sore” after his first round on Thursday. “I had a long trip to Thailand and then trying to get ready for this event, to play this event, it’s been a lot of travel, a lot of time in the air, a lot of moving around, different hotels and everything. I just want to go home.”
That weariness was evident even before the start of his second round, when he was spotted sitting on the ground to tie his shoelaces.
He did, however, spark hopes of a comeback with an opening birdie, which he followed with another gain on the 6th before he gave the shot straight back on the next.
Successive birdies around the turn moved him back to four over par for the tournament, but that was as good as it got for the World No.5, who closed with back-to-back bogeys to end the day on one under par.
“It’s more frustrating than anything else because this is a major championship and I love playing in these events,” said Tiger. “I love the atmosphere. I love just the stress of playing in a major. And unfortunately, I’ve only had a chance to win one of them and was able to do it. But the other three I didn’t do very well.
“I’m going to take a couple of weeks off and get ready for the playoffs. We’ve got the playoffs coming up, and anything can happen. Last year I almost stole the whole FedEx Cup at the very end. So, [I’ll] get ready for those events and after that then have a break.”
Tiger currently sits 23rd in the FedEx Cup standings, and is expected to make his next appearance at the Northern Trust, from August 8-11.
