Tiger Woods will play the Memorial, says host Jack Nicklaus

Tiger Woods has yet to announce where he’ll compete next (we’re betting on The Players Championship next month) but his pre-U.S. Open itinerary reportedly includes a start at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament.

Nicklaus told a local Fox Sports affiliate on Wednesday that a “long, long talk” with Woods at Augusta during the Masters yielded the data nugget that Woods had the Memorial on his calendar. Though the information had yet to hit his website, a Woods sighting at Muirfield Village in June would hardly be a news flash, given his five-win success on the Ohio track.

“It’s as much conversation as I’ve ever had with Tiger,” Nicklaus said about the tête-à-tête with the nearest challenger to his all-time mark of 18 major titles.

“We talked about a lot of things. It was good. And he said, ‘Hey, see you in May. I’ll be at the Memorial,’” Nicklaus reported. “It’s nice to have Tiger back.”

Woods’ 2012 Memorial victory tied him briefly with Nicklaus for second on the all-time PGA Tour wins list with 73 and included a chip shot from the pre-rocket hosel short-game wizard that Nicklaus called, “the most unbelievable, gutsy shot I have ever seen.”

Woods captured his 74th tour win later that month at the AT&T National and won five times in 2013, but skipped last year’s Memorial to rehab after back surgery.

The two legends chatted about a number of things, including Woods’ recent woes with his wedges that he seemed to put to rest with a successful comeback at Augusta. The conversation, though, was mostly about Woods’ two children, who caddied for him in the Par-3 Contest that preceded the Masters.

“I’ve said many times,” Nicklaus averred, “he’ll be fine.”

Woods, whose agent told ESPN.com’s Bob Harig was indeed “fine” after an injury scare in the final round at Augusta when he hit a tree root with an iron, is headed to Asia over the weekend to conduct golf clinics and announce his course-design project in China.

Woods’ April 24-26 visit will “help stoke local interest in the sport of golf and inspire athletes in China and Japan,” according to Nike Golf, Woods’ sponsor.

Woods was also expected to unveil his course-design enterprise, an undertaking that will reportedly involve an overhaul of a 27-hole course in Beijing called Holiday Golf Club. Golf.com reported recently that Woods’ design firm will reopen the facility as Pacific Links National Golf Club as part of a $16.5 million, two-course redesign deal.

Woods has played three times this year, with his best finish a T17 at Augusta, and is now ranked 106th in the world. He did not qualify to play in next week’s WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship but if history is any guide, he will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass in two weeks.

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