Tiger Woods has now played in only one of the first six PGA Tour events this season, winning the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January by four strokes. He is not participating in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am that started Thursday. Rory McIlroy is also not on the tour card, and has not appeared in a PGA event in 2013. When will the two most popular golfers in the world play again?
There are ten events left until the first major tournament of the 2013 season, The Masters in mid-April. McIlroy just committed to playing in the Shell Houston Open at the end of March, but nothing has come out about him playing in other tournaments or Woods playing in either in the meantime. Both Woods and McIlroy missed the cut in their respective first events of the season, the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship on the European Tour.
Woods' girlfriend, U.S. Skier Lindsey Vonn, recently tore her ACL and MCL and is out for the season. Her aim is to make it back for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, which are just under a year away. With Vonn recovering from surgery and not too many high-profile PGA events happening soon, don't be surprised to see Tiger out for a while too. On the other hand, the competitor in him may want to be on the course sooner rather than later. You also have to consider Tiger's relationship history, which doesn't paint a rosy picture of him caring much about the woman he's with.
The Pebble Beach Pro-Am Leaderboard is here. Phil Mickelson is the most notable golfer participating.
This Devil Ball Golf story debates who will have the bigger year, Woods or Mickelson, each of whom has a tour win this year.
The next PGA Tour event starts on Valentine's Day, as PGA pros will participate in the Northern Trust Open in California. The complete PGA event schedule is available here.