Tiger Woods 'concerned' with how his body will cope with Play-Offs
Friday 9 August 2019 18:07, UK
Tiger Woods has admitted he is worried about the prospect of playing three consecutive events ahead of teeing up at The Northern Trust.
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Woods heads into the FedExCup Play-Offs 28th in the standings and is set to play both at Liberty National and the BMW Championship in order to try and stay in the top 30 to qualify for the Tour Championship, where he returned to the winner's circle in 2018.
The 43-year-old has only played 12 rounds of competitive golf since claiming a 15th major title at the Masters in April, most recently struggling with back stiffness on his way to a missed cut at The Open.
Woods hasn't featured in three tournaments in succession since the same stretch of events last season, with the former world No 1 unsure about how his body will cope with the season finale.
"Yes, there is concern," Woods told the media on Wednesday. "The pressures I'm going to be facing and hopefully putting myself in contention is why it gets difficult.
"If you're missing cuts, who cares, as you're taking weekends off and a couple of extra days' rest, but I try to get myself where I'm in contention and where it takes a toll on you.
"That's what I want to feel, as I want to feel the type of tiredness where I've had a chance to win as that's a good feeling."
We answer some of the key questions about the PGA Tour's season finale.
Woods, who has only made 10 competitive starts in 2019, played nine holes with Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Harold Varner III on Tuesday but was only able to play a limited round during Wednesday's pre-tournament pro-am.
"I was a little stiff and it's best to be smart about it," Woods added. "It's kind of what I did pre-Augusta, where I just went out there and chipped and putted for nine holes.
"I can't practice as much as I'd like and certainly can't even sniff how much I used to practice. Some days I'm stiffer than others. Yesterday I was out there hitting it great, hitting it out there with Brooksy [Brooks Koepa] and DJ [Dustin Johnson] and today I'm stiff.
"I learned a lot last year about playing too much. Coming back from my procedure and not really knowing what to expect, I pushed it pretty hard and I'd never do that again!
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"I cut my schedule back but the problem was the season changed, so now we've got a more condensed season and it's trying to figure out how to stay sharp, practice and also have my back feeling good all the time."
Watch the Northern Trust throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins with Featured Groups on Thursday from 12.15pm on Sky Sports Golf.
