Ryder Cup, FedExCup huge questions on an unsettled Tiger Woods 2014 schedule

The 143rd Open Championship will be remembered as the tournament that got Rory McIlroy three-fourths of the way to the career grand slam. It’s a feat that only two golfers had accomplished by the age of 25 (Nicklaus, Woods) and now McIlroy is on that list. But as Rory was beginning his victory lap around Royal Liverpool, the last man to win there was finishing his round and bombing out of his first major of 2014.

Tiger Woods finished his 72nd hole and quickly left the Royal Liverpool property, heading toward a private jet destined for the United States. It was a completely average tournament for Woods. He made some birdies, but he also put a bunch of crooked numbers on his scorecard that kept him from being competitive. The up-and-down nature of Woods’ tournament left golf fans both encouraged and befuddled at the same time -- he was able to complete four competitive rounds and stay healthy, but the play was ugly while doing so. It was a one step forward, two steps back scenario for Woods as he labored around Hoylake. It left us with several more questions about how the rest of the year will play out for Woods. Possibly even the rest of his career.

Let’s just stick to this year and what may be for the former No. 1 player in the world.

Right now, Tiger Woods is only scheduled to compete in two official golf tournaments for the rest of 2014. Next week Tiger will head to the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Last year at this very tournament, he put together his best round of the year, shooting a second-round 61 and never looking back. He won by seven strokes for his fifth PGA Tour victory of the season. It is a course and tournament that Tiger has dominated, winning there eight times. How he plays next week should go a long way in letting the golf world know exactly how Tiger is feeling. This is also a limited-field event without a cut, which means Tiger will be able to play four more rounds before the PGA Championship.

Tiger will be in field at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which starts the next week on Aug. 7. He’ll return to the site of his second PGA Championship title a very different golfer. It’s been 14 years since Tiger took down Bob May in a playoff to win his third major in a row, but he’ll no doubt have great memories as he tees it up. Whether or not that translates into a great week for Tiger remains to be seen -- we’ve been saying for six years now how much successful history he has each time we come to a new major venue. It was Hoylake last week, Valhalla in two weeks.

Tiger is now officially behind the pace of Jack Nicklaus and his major championship record. It will be a big week for Tiger -- can he be competitive in what many consider the deepest field of the year at the top?

Tiger is not even close to qualifying for the FedExCup playoffs right now. Thanks to injury and below-average play, the only man with two FedExCups is on the outside looking in. The top 125 in the FedExCup standings make it to the first playoffs event at the Barclays, and Tiger is currently 214th. It is likely going to take a win or two very strong finishes (probably top-three) to get into the first playoff event. If he’s close, he could add the Wyndham Championship to his schedule after the PGA in a last-ditch attempt to add more points and get into the top 125. But we all know Tiger doesn’t prefer to alter his schedule, and humbling himself to play the annual Greensboro stop just to get into the playoffs would be a long shot. He’d probably opt to just pack it up and skip the postseason.

Of course, if he even does sneak into the top 125, it will be a challenge to keep advancing -- the top 100 make it to the second playoff event in Boston. It seems unlikely that he will get in at all at this point.

Aside from his long-shot chances at the PGA, Tiger’s status on the United States Ryder Cup team will dominate the conversation as we gear up for the biannual event. It’s the perfect topic to debate and fill air space and column space.

Tiger is not going to qualify on points, so he will have to rely on a captain’s selection in order to make the team. U.S. captain Tom Watson will certainly consider selecting Tiger, who has stated that he wants to play. It will be a tough choice for Watson, whose team is going to be an underdog against a loaded European team. The Tiger issue is a complex one for Watson, and it’s going to hound him up to and through the competition. Is Tiger healthy enough, and even if he is, does he have enough reps or is he playing well enough to be one of the top 12?

Both Watson and Woods were repeatedly peppered with the question at the Open. When it was all over, and Tiger came in fourth-to-last place for the field that made the weekend, he was asked about the captain’s pick.

Q. If you were Tom Watson, would you be inclined to take you for the Ryder Cup?
Woods: I would say yes. But that’s my position, my take on it. Well, he’s the captain. Obviously it’s his decision. He’s going to field the best 12 players that he thinks will win the Cup back. And I hope I’m on that team.

So he’s not going to make it easy on Watson, who is also pretty hard-headed and not too friendly with Tiger, like Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples, who insists months in advance that Tiger is always a lock for the team. On the prospect of selecting Tiger and Phil Mickelson if they don’t qualify on points, the captain said this week, “Everybody is thinking that I’m going to pick them automatically. I can assure you that I’m not going to pick them automatically.”

And there was also this exchange with reporters at Hoylake:

Watson is not dodging the questions right now, and seems pretty comfortable saying Tiger is going to have to work for it. It could get pretty dicey -- both players are legends, stubborn at times, and have a frosty history. At this point, it really seems like Woods might get passed over.

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So that is what lies ahead for golf’s biggest superstar. It’s quite possible we only see him two more times this year, which is frustrating for golf fans. He will likely fall further behind the pace of Jack Nicklaus and go winless for the season for the first time since 2011. In the same way he left Hoylake, there are likely going be a lot of questions surrounding Woods’ game and future in the sport.