Dublin
Tiger Woods will return to the PGA Tour this week for the first time in five months, and will have some of the biggest names in golf by his side when he does so.
Woods will be paired with Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka for the first two rounds of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, the Tour announced on Monday afternoon.
There are several other great pairings to kick off the tournament at Jack Nicklaus’ iconic course, too. Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose will tee off with Shane Lowry. Bryson DeChambeau and defending champion Patrick Cantlay will go off with last week’s winner Collin Morikawa. Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele will be with Justin Thomas, who blew a three-shot lead and fell to Morikawa in a playoff on Sunday at the Workday Charity Open.
Woods hasn’t played on Tour since The Genesis Invitational in February, a tournament he hosted in Southern California but finished 68th — last among those who made the cut. The 82-time Tour winner tied Sam Snead’s all-time wins record earlier this season after winning the Zozo Championship in October.
He did participate in The Match II: Champions for Charity in May, a charity golf event with Mickelson and NFL quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
The 44-year-old, however, has opted to wait to return to the Tour since play resumed in June and dropped to No. 14 in the World Golf Rankings.
McIlroy, the top-ranked player in the world, picked up his 18th career win on Tour earlier this season at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. The reigning FedExCup winner finished tied for 11th at the Travelers Championship last month, his best finish in three events since play resumed.
Koepka grabbed three of his seven career wins on Tour last season, including one at the PGA Championship. The 30-year-old, however, has struggled this season after dealing with a lengthy knee injury — which forced him to withdraw from The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges in October.
He finished seventh at the RBC Heritage last month, his best finish of the season, though has missed the cut at three of the seven events he’s played in — including last week’s Workday Charity Open, which he kicked off with an opening-round 74.—AP
