Golf

Tiger Woods to skip WGC FedEx St Jude Invitiational

15-time Major winner will head USPGA with just four competitive rounds since February

Tiger Woods plays his fourth shot on the seventh hole during the final round of The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio last week. Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Fri Jul 24 2020 - 18:08

Tiger Woods will head into the year’s first major championship with just four competitive rounds under his belt since mid-February after opting not to play next week’s WGC FedEx St Jude Invitational.

Woods returned to action at the Memorial Tournament following five months on the sidelines due to injury and the coronavirus pandemic, but looked understandably rusty in finishing in a tie for 40th at Muirfield Village.

The 15-time major winner subsequently declined to confirm when he would play again and took to social media on Friday to confirm that he will not compete before the US PGA Championship at Harding Park from August 6th-9th.

“Disappointed to miss WGCFedEx, but doing what I think is best to prepare me for the PGAChampionship and upcoming FedExCup Playoffs,” Woods wrote on Twitter.

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Woods defeated John Daly in a play-off to win the WGC-American Express Championship at Harding Park in 2005 and also compiled a perfect 5-0 record at the San Francisco venue in the 2009 Presidents Cup.

Meanwhile, Thorbjorn Olesen will return to action for the first time since his European Tour suspension was lifted in next week’s Hero Open.

Olesen was suspended by the Tour after he was arrested and charged with sexual assault, being drunk on a plane and assault by beating after an alleged incident on a flight from Nashville to London on July 29th last year.

The 30-year-old pleaded not guilty to all charges at a court hearing in December, but delays in legal proceedings due to the coronavirus saw his suspension lifted at the start of July.

“While my team and I initially agreed that I would not participate in Tour events while the legal proceedings were outstanding, I am naturally grateful to the European Tour for allowing me to continue my career following the lengthy adjournment of my trial,” Olesen said.

“Obviously, the case itself is still ongoing so I will continue to make no comment about it.”

Olesen’s trial was originally listed for May 11th, but the pandemic and subsequent backlog in the legal process means he will not appear in court again until December 6th, 2021 at the earliest.

“Due to this significant and unparalleled delay in the legal process, the European Tour has agreed that his suspension be lifted with immediate effect, allowing him to compete while he continues to contest the case,” a statement from the European Tour read at the time.

The Hero Open at Marriott Forest of Arden is the second of six events on the European Tour’s “UK swing” as the circuit returned to action for the first time since March.