What’s Next for Golf’s Urkel?
Tiger Woods started from a standout at Stanford University, where his college team nickname was actually Urkel, to become a sports icon and a name synonymous with the game of golf. The decade of the 2020s has not been kind to the living legend. The year 2020 was ravaged by COVID-19, with Tiger’s performance for the year was not memorable. The following year was the near-fatal car accident, which Woods was prioritizing to walk on his own power, where his future in golf was in question. Woods made his return to golf in the 2022 Masters, where he made the cut, and some fans were cheerful that he even cut after the car accident. Woods for the rest of 2022, try to play the Majors, but withdrew from the 2022 PGA Championship and didn’t play the 2022 U.S. Open, where he wanted to recover to full strength. Tiger Woods did return to the 2023 Masters but had to withdraw due to the weather conditions, which led to reaggravation of his injuries from the car crash, and didn’t play until the 2023 Hero Challenge. Tiger made his debut in 2024 in the 2024 Genesis Invitational and only played in the four Majors for the rest of the year, and only made the cut in the 2024 Masters.
Tiger Woods, unfortunately, did not play any official PGA Tour events this year due to an Achilles Injury and the passing of his mother. This marks another year where Tiger was out of sight in the golf world. The good news is that Tiger did receive a Lifetime Achievement Exemption in June 2024, allowing him to compete in all future PGA Tour Signature Events regardless of his eligibility status. The exemption will allow the chance to break the tie with Sam Snead for the most PGA Tour victories with the magic number of 82.
The first question seems to be, will Tiger play next year? Will Tiger Woods make the cut this week? The last question, the important one: Can he win this week? The answers to all of these questions will come from Tiger through his announcements, condition, and lastly his performance if he can bring in one more roar of the crowd for number 82.
