02 March 2024 , 23:04
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Tiger Woods will make his return to tournament action in one of the most prestigious and exclusive events in world golf, but it is not on the PGA Tour.
Woods will tee it up in the Seminole Pro-Member at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida on Monday in a field that is arguably stronger than this weekend's Cognizant Classic down the road in Palm Beach Gardens, and he is paired with one of the most vocal critics of LIV Golf, Seth Waugh.
Woods is in the 7.47am ET tee time, playing alongside his close friend Justin Thomas and his tech billionaire partner Mike Walrath. It will be Woods' return to competitive golf after withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles on February 16 through illness.
Fans feared Woods had suffered a recurrence of the ankle and back injuries that have plagued him in recent years when he called it quits before reaching the turn in his second round, but it was later confirmed he was suffering with the flu and received treatment in the clubhouse before being discharged.
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It remains unclear if Woods, 48, will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week. The tournament at Bay Hill is one of the most historic on the PGA Tour, with Woods winning it a record eight times. Woods is yet to declare his intention to play and it seems likely he will not play on tour again until The Players at TPC Sawgrass in March.
Davis Love III famously described the Seminole Pro-Member as "the first major of the year", with dozens of top pros joining businessmen, PGA Tour executives and a slew of celebrities at one of America's best courses. Goldman Sachs executive Mark Flaherty and world number six Patrick Cantlay are the reigning champions.
Rory McIlroy is in the field and is paired with his father, Gerry. NFL legend Tom Brady is teamed with Tony Finau, with Rickie Fowler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa and Padraig Harrington among the other PGA Tour stars involved in the tournament.
PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh has not held back in his criticism of LIV Golf (Warren Little/Getty Images)No LIV Golf players are involved in the event, with Jimmy Dunne – an investment banker who is president of Seminole Golf Club – making the call. Dunne is an independent director on the PGA Tour policy board, tasked with preventing players from quitting for LIV, while also helping orchestrate the proposed merger of the PGA Tour and LIV's backers, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
Woods' playing partner Waugh is the CEO of the Professional Golfers' Association of America, which among other things hosts the PGA Championship. He has not held back in his criticism of LIV since the breakaway tour launched in 2022.
“[The PIF] can fund it for as long as they want to,” he told The Times last year. “But no matter how much money you have, at some point burning it doesn’t feel very good. I don’t see they are accomplishing much.
“I don’t think division is good for the game. Hopefully, it’s good for those individuals that have made whatever decisions they have, but the game has moved on. It’s amplified those who have stayed and the ones who have left have largely disappeared from the landscape in terms of an exposure perspective.”