Tiger Woods makes surprise advance announcement of ‘busy summer’ schedule

Tiger Woods, in an unusual move for the former world No. 1, announced on Wednesday he would play in a relatively full slate of tournaments that will take him through July and into August.

Woods, who historically keeps people guessing about his upcoming PGA Tour whereabouts until the last possible moment, tweeted and posted on his website that he planned to start both Open championships (U.S. and British), the Memorial, Greenbrier Classic and his foundation’s Quicken Loans National.

The 14-time major champion previously confirmed he would take on TPC Sawgrass next week in the Players Championship, and Jack Nicklaus leaked the news that Woods would go for his sixth win on the Memorial’s Muirfield Village track.

“Going to be a busy summer,” Woods tweeted about his full itinerary that includes stops at several familiar haunts and a somewhat surprising one in the Greenbrier in which he has competed only twice.

Woods is a regular at Jack’s tourney, which he has won five times, and which runs from June 4 to June 7. The Old Course at St. Andrews was a no-brainer, since Woods called the place where he has won two Claret Jugs “his favorite course in golf.” The Open Championship is from July 16 to July 19.

Woods, coming off a T17 at the Masters in April following a missed cut in Phoenix, a withdrawal at Torrey Pines and a two-month layoff to fix a shaggy short game, hosts the National, which moves from its usual venue at Congressional to another DC-area club, Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in northern Virginia (July 30-Aug. 2).

The Players and Memorial are the only two events Woods will play prior to the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay (June 18-June 21). Woods last teed it up at the Greenbrier (July 2-July 5) in 2012 and missed the cut.

Looking past this announcement, it’s safe to assume Woods will show up for the PGA Championship in August. He must be among the top 50 in the world rankings to qualify for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and he is currently No. 116. That tumble down the world rankings has left him unqualified for the first two WGC events of the year, Doral in March and this week’s Match Play in San Francisco. Those have always been staples of his schedule and events he’s owned, especially at Firestone. He’s won 18 WGC titles in his career -- the next closest is Geoff Ogilvy with ... three.

He must also perform well in more events to be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs at the end of the summer.

After so many months of mystery about where and when or if Woods would play again, it’s refreshing to have a little clarity on the biggest draw in golf. Here’s where and when we can expect to see Woods this summer:

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