FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Tiger Woods knows how tough qualifying for the 2020 Olympics will be -- tougher than qualifying for any PGA Tour event. The question is, will he go all in to make it to Tokyo?
“Would I like to play in the Olympics? Yes, I’ve never played in the Olympics, and I’m sure that I won’t have many more opportunities going forward at 43 years old now to play in many Olympics,” Woods said ahead of the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black on Tuesday. “Yes, that would be a first for me and something that I would certainly welcome if I was part of the team.”
To be part of the team, Woods must be ranked in the top 15 in the world and be among the top four ranked Americans on June 22, 2020. Via his Masters win, Woods is currently third among Americans in the Olympic golf ranking, according to Twitter guru Nosferatu.
It’s a precarious position with the likes of Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas just off the bubble. Come next spring, when more Olympic qualifying points will be up for grabs, will Woods play more non-major tournaments to boost his ranking?
“Getting there and making the team is going to be the tough part,” he said. “How many events -- how many events do I play, do I add a couple more to get in? These are all questions that will be answered going forward. I just know that if I play well in the big events like I did this year, things will take care of itself.”
True. Take the Masters win (although, come June 2020, it will have little effect on his Olympic ranking as more weight is given to 2020 events than 2019 ones).
Woods improved from seventh alternate for the U.S. in early April to the No. 2 American behind Dustin Johnson. He has since fallen behind Rio Olympic bronze medalist Matt Kuchar into third place, proving just how volatile qualifying can be.
In 2015, Woods said qualifying for the first Olympic golf tournament in 112 years in Rio was “very important.” September 2015 back surgery ended that Olympic bid, however.
In Rio, only three male golfers from the field of 60 were older than Woods will be come July 2020 -- Thongchai Jaidee, Alex Cejka and Padraig Harrington. None of those men had to be ranked in the world top 15 to make their nations’ teams. That’s a necessary floor for a U.S. man given the depth.
A month before the Rio Games, Woods said he would prefer if the top 50 in the world automatically made the Olympic field.
“I just wish they would have had more quality of a field, similar to what we face in major championships, or the world golf championships, or the Players [Championship],” he said then. “We have these top-heavy fields, and I think the Olympics really deserve that.
“But I understand they’re trying to promote the game of golf and give more participants a chance to be part of the Olympic experience and be a part of golf. And try to get more of these countries that have not traditionally been part of golf to be a part of it, and for them to grow.”
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