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Tournaments

After Saturday 67, here’s what it will take for Tiger Woods to qualify for Tour Championship

Sean ZakBy Sean Zak
August 17, 2019

Just when you start to count out Tiger Woods, here he comes. Woods shot a bogey-free 67 Saturday at Medinah Country Club to give himself a chance to advance to next week’s Tour Championship.

Woods made birdie on three of the four par 5s, a staple of his most successful weeks in his career, and added another two birdies on par 4s. Woods entered the week needing a top 11 finish to advance to East Lake for the final event of the season, which he won last year. After shooting 71 in his first two rounds, he trailed the leader by 10 shots. He will still be many shots back when he starts Sunday, but winning isn’t necessarily the goal. Survive and advance is.

So, what will it take? The 43-year-old might have to shoot another bogey-free 18 holes. He is currently about three shots back from what would be 11th place at the BMW Championship. To this point, Medinah has played rather easy, so a round near par will not gain him much on the field.

Another 67 would likely vault Woods into position, but would 68 get the job done? Probably not. A 66 would probably make it worry-free. For those following closely, Woods predicted a solid weekend for himself on Friday, saying, “I’m going to have to have a great weekend and make a lot of birdies this week and post some rounds in the mid-60s to give myself a chance at it.”

To this point, he’s followed through on that promise. A trip to Atlanta would guarantee Tiger fans another start before what is expected to be a long break. Woods’ next guaranteed start would be at the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan in late October. Woods is reportedly taking part in a skins game that week, involving Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama.

Woods will tee off late in the morning Sunday.