Tiger Woods sitting out WGC to maintain his appetite for majors, says Paul McGinley

Paul McGinley believes Tiger Woods is sitting out this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship because he is trying to stay fresh and hungry for this season’s majors, starting with his defence of the green jacket at Augusta National in April.
Tiger Woods, winner of a record 18 World Golf Championships, is skipping this week's event in MexicoTiger Woods, winner of a record 18 World Golf Championships, is skipping this week's event in Mexico
Tiger Woods, winner of a record 18 World Golf Championships, is skipping this week's event in Mexico

Woods, winner of a record 18 World Golf Championships, had already decided to skip the $10.5 million event before he finished last of the players who made the cut in the Genesis Invitational, which he hosted, in Los Angeles at the weekend.

It seems a surprising decision given the tournament outside Mexico City offers guaranteed world ranking, FedEx Cup and Olympic points, with Woods currently eighth in the battle for four spots on the US team for the Tokyo Games later in the year.

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“Honestly, you don’t know with Tiger as we are only guessing when it comes to him,” said McGinley of the 15-time major winner, who has undergone four separate back surgeries in recent years, as well as a couple of procedures on his knee.

“Last year, for instance, he kept telling everyone that nothing was wrong with him, but his form was off. He said he was fine but then had to have a knee operation, after which he came back flying again and playing well.

“Like all things with Tiger, he doesn’t want to give away an edge, whether he is carrying an injury or whether his back or knee is sore. You are only hazarding a guess with Tiger. But, like most guys when they get towards the end of their career, they seem to scale down their schedule and I can understand that.

Lee Westwood is a good example and, interestingly, I played with Adam Scott last year and he was talking about how he has played professional golf for so long now and the most important thing for him is to have an appetite to play and an appetite to compete.

“If he plays a full schedule, he won’t have that appetite, so he is kind of trying to play a little less so when he is there he is able to mentally engage in playing. I think you will probably see Tiger doing that as well, but you never know. We’ve heard so many stories over the years and all we are doing, really, is guessing whether he is healthy or not.”

In his first event on the PGA Tour this year, 39-year-old Scott won the Genesis Invitational, adding to European Tour victories for both Westwood and Graeme McDowell at the age of 46 and 40 respectively in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Saudi International earlier in the year.

“It is good to see,” said McGinley, speaking exclusively to The Scotsman, of some of the game’s experienced campaigners showing they can still flex their muscles, “but I still think it is very much a young man’s game, to be honest.

“I think power is such a big part of the game and, as we move away from early-season golf courses and get more into the longer and softer courses we see in the summertime, that will play more into the hands of the younger guys, I think.”

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On a Riviera Country Club course that earned widespread praise for the way it had been set up, Scott’s winning total at the weekend was 11-under-par, which is low by comparison to most regular events on either the PGA Tour or European Tour.

“Watching Riviera on Sunday night, I really enjoyed it and, boy, I wish we could have more courses that look that way. If only we could find some advances in agronomy or technology in terms of drying out a golf course,” said McGinley.

“That’s what makes it difficult. I have always said that, in professional golf, the difficulty isn’t in a course being 800 yards if it is soft; the difficulty is a course of 6500 yards when it is hard and fast.

“The players are great in controlling a ball from A to B but, when it bounces or you are coming out of the rough to a firm green, now it’s a different scenario than if you are coming out of the rough into a soft green.

“We play way too many golf courses in the professional game that are over-watered and Sunday was refreshing to see as it turned out to be a great tournament. Great tournaments, for me, are when there is volatility in the scoring.

“When you get guys are making bogeys and double-bogeys, even triple-bogeys, as well as making birdies and eagles. I think that’s what we had at Riviera and I think that’s what made it such a fabulous event.”

Woods, incidentally, is not the only notable absentee in Mexico, with Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Henrik Stenson also deciding to give it a miss while Patrick Cantlay is out injured.