Tiger Woods may need a 14th-place finish at this week's PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club if he hopes to return to the city in September.
After opening with a 68 in the first round of last week's Bridgestone Invitational, Woods couldn't break 70 in the final three rounds, finishing 1 over, tied for 37th. It was his first tournament in three months after rehabbing leg injuries.
As a result of his finish in Ohio, Woods is No. 129 in the FedExCup point standings. The top 125 players qualify to play in the first of the four PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. The playoffs start Aug. 25 with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, N.J. and ends with The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club on Sept 22-25. Woods has said he won't be play in the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. Aug. 18-21, which is the last qualifying tournament, so he must do enough this week to secure a top-125 finish at AAC's Highlands Course.
It took 380 points to get into The Barclays in 2010. Woods has 318. If the point total for the No. 125 spot were to stay the same as in 2010, he needs 62 points, which is at least a 14th-place finish at the PGA Championship if he chooses not to play in Greensboro.
To advance past the The Barclays, Woods would need to be among the top 100 in the points standings heading into the Deutsche Bank Championship, the top 70 before the BMW Championship -- where he won his last PGA Tour event in 2009 -- and the top 30 for The Tour Championship, which he missed last year.
Of course, Woods has won the PGA Championship four times – part of his 14 victories in golf's majors -- and said he was "absolutely encouraged" by his performance in Ohio as it pertains to his chances this week in Atlanta.
Woods will tee off at 8:35 a.m. in Thursday's first round, paired with Davis Love III and Padraig Harrington. Woods didn't contend the last time the PGA was held at the AAC in 2001. He tied for 29th with scores of 73-67-69-70.
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