Tiger to try a new three-in-a-row

US TOUR BUICK OPEN:BARRING ANY scheduling surprises, Tiger Woods is about to try something new. He had played three weeks in a row on the PGA Tour in every season since he was a rookie until last year, when knee surgeries crimped his schedule.

That third consecutive tournament, however, has never been a major.

This year looks like it will be different. Woods decided to play this week at the Buick Open, where he is a two-time winner and has never finished worse than 11th in eight previous starts at Warwick Hills.

Next week is the Bridgestone Invitational, and while Woods has yet to make that official, he has never missed a WGC event in America when he wasn’t on crutches. Besides, he is a six-time winner at Firestone.

Then it’s off to Hazeltine for the PGA Championship, his last shot at winning a major this year.

Woods has not played more than two weeks in a row since returning from knee surgery. Even though he is leading the PGA Tour money list by more than €400,000 and his three victories are more than anyone else, he has played only 10 times this year.

Some have suggested he needs to play more.

Then there was his last tournament, nothing short of a disaster. Woods played a six-hole stretch at Turnberry in seven-over-par and wound up missing the cut in the British Open by one shot, only his second missed cut in a major.

Swing coach Hank Haney worked with him last week in Florida, then offered a self-deprecating assessment as he headed to the airport.

“He’s doing really good,’’ Haney said. “He had a bad tournament, and I’m getting fired.’’

Woods rarely plays the week before a major, but there has always been an exception or two for the PGA Championship. He has played five times the week before the PGA Championship, and in 2007 won at Firestone by eight shots before winning the PGA at Southern Hills.

The Lowdown

Course: Warwick Hills Golf Club, Michigan.

Length: 7,127 yards

Par: 72

Prizemoney: €3.6 million (€654,230 to the winner)

Layout: Relatively short parkland course that gives up many birdies. The greens are Bentgrass and large with forgiving fairways and a not so troublsome rough.

Field: 156

Defending champion: Kenny Perry came from three shots behind to win by one.

On TV: Eurosport 2 (8pm live daily)

Weather forecast: Warm with chance of thunderstorms at weekend.