Masters Tune Up: Tiger Woods Commits To Valspar Championship, Bay Hill
- Updated: March 2, 2018
Tiger Woods will get a couple more reps in prior to this year’s Masters.
On Friday, the 14-time major winner announced that he will play next week’s Valspar Championship followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill a week later.
If there were any questions about his health, they appear to be answered.
After a good recovery week I’m committing to play in the @ValsparChamp and @APinv next two weeks.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 2, 2018
— Two Inches Short (@TwoInchesShort) March 2, 2018
This will mark four starts in a five-week span, which includes an MC at the Genesis Open and a 12th-place finish at the Honda Classic – his best result on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Wyndham Championship – where he was 1st in proximity to the hole and ranked 3rd in driving distance.
It’s the first time that he’ll play the Valspar at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course in Tampa, Fla., joining a field that already includes Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. Woods last competed at the venue in 1996, during the JCPenny Classic, a mixed-team event.
“We’re going into what we call Tiger Mode,” said Hollis Cavner, the executive director of Pro Links Sports, which manages the event. “Everything changes when he comes. We’ll have to beef up security, increase busing, concessions. Now it’s a whole different game. That’s the effect he has.”
In case you forgot for some reason, Woods has won the King’s event at Bay Hill a total of EIGHT (!!!!) times but hasn’t played it since his last victory there in 2013.
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The Masters takes place April 5-8. We can almost smell the azaleas!
