Just because Tiger signed up for the U.S. Open doesn't mean Tiger is playing the U.S. Open
Tiger Woods registered for the 2016 U.S. Open earlier this month, well ahead of a Wednesday deadline for exempt players to get into the field for the mid-June event. This, of course, has fueled a frenzy of comeback stories despite that fact that registration equals not a tee time. As far as we can tell, there are several possible reasons why Tiger would register.
1. It's simply good form.
Tiger has absolutely no plan on playing any tournaments in 2016 but since the U.S. Open registration closes seven weeks before the date of the tournament and since he put his name in the hat a full two-and-a-half months before tee off, he figures that if, all of a sudden, he starts unleashing drives down the center, pinpointing his approaches and putting like it's 1999, then, what the hell, he'll go to the U.S. Open. Even if it's just a pie in the sky hope, the registration is no harm, no foul. If he doesn't end up wanting to play, he just doesn't play. Simple.
(Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
2. Tiger is absolutely, positively coming back.
This is what the golf world would like to believe - that the video of Tiger swinging at the youth clinic plus other chatter from around the sport means Mr. Woods is ready to return to the course. Registering for the U.S. Open was an understated, subtle way of making that announcement. Soon, he'll register for the Wells Fargo, Byron Nelson or Memorial and make the comeback official.
3. Tiger is going back and forth on his return.
The Tiger of this scenario wants to play as soon as possible so he's lining up potential starts even if he doesn't know whether he'll make them.This is the most likely answer, though I'm still putting the odds at 35/65 he plays, even if that is seeming more and more like wishful thinking every day.
(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Just like we discussed in No. 1, the only thing that registering for the U.S. Open does is keep the door open to play in the U.S. Open. He'll keep working over the next three or four weeks and then make a decision about his summer. At PGA events (like the ones mentioned above that he'd almost certainly play as tuneups rather than jumping directly into the deep end at Oakmont) Tiger can register on the Friday before the event.
So, he figures (in this scenario), get on the list for the U.S. Open, see how things go and, if by mid-to-late May he's feeling good enough, give it a go at Jack's tournament two weeks before the Open (or anytime before) and then make his grand return to major golf at the U.S. Open, which is only the toughest challenge in the sport and one where he'd probably go something like 77-78 in his first two days to miss the cut by five strokes. As you can tell, we do not endorse this plan.
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
