Tiger Woods has entered this month’s Barclays Classic, the first of the PGA Tour’s four lucrative FedEx Cup playoff events, where he needs to perform well to advance.
The American world No. 1 lies 108th in the FedEx Cup standings and is likely to drop lower after this week’s Wyndham Championship in North Carolina which he has opted to skip.
Only the top 100 players in the standings after the Aug. 26 to 29 Barclays Classic in Paramus, New Jersey, qualify for the second playoff event, the Sept. 3 to 6 Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts.
Woods, who officially entered the Barclays on Thursday, needs to remain in the top 125 to retain his place in the field for the Barclays.
By his own admission, the 34-year-old is struggling to regain consistent form after taking a self-imposed five-month break following revelations about his marital infidelities.
Woods made an encouraging return to the PGA Tour when he tied for fourth at the US Masters in April and again at the US Open in June, but the rest of his year has been forgetful.
Among the low points were a missed cut at the Quail Hollow Championship, a withdrawal from the Players Championship due to a neck injury and a tie for 78th at this month’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational — the worst four-round result of his career.
“I feel like my game is a lot better than it was last week,” Woods told reporters after sharing 28th place at last week’s US PGA Championship, the year’s final major. “Given a little bit more time, it’s starting to head in the right direction now, which is good.”
Woods, a 14-times major champion, has not won anywhere in the world since the Australian Masters in November last year.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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