Is Tiger Woods playing in the 2024 Cognizant Classic? Golfer’s availability and schedule explored
The preliminary list for the 2024 Cogninzant Classic was announced on Saturday, February 24, and Tiger Woods was not among the probables for this week's event.
The PGA Tour is ready for the Florida swing, as it will now head to Palm Beach Gardens for the Cognizant Classic 2024 (formerly known as the Honda Classic), the next stop on the Tour's schedule. The ninth event on the PGA Tour will be played at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Florida from Thursday, February 29, to Sunday, March 3. However, Woods is set to remain out of action for another week.
On Friday, February 16, Woods was forced to pull out of the Genesis Invitational 2024 during the second round due to the flu and dehydration. The ambulance had reached the course, and he was given on-site treatment, but he decided to withdraw from the event. For the uninitiated, this was his first event of this season and his first official start since the 2023 Masters Tournament.
Following his withdrawal, Woods confirmed on X that he withdrew due to the flu, putting the injury rumors to rest.
"I would like to confirm that I had to withdraw from @thegenesisinv due to illness, which we now know is influenza," he wrote." I am resting and feeling better. Good luck to the players this weekend. I’m disappointed to not be there and want to thank @GenesisUSA and all the fans for the support."
The 15-time Major champion didn't reveal his future schedule. However, last year at the Hero World Challenge, he said he was looking forward to playing at least one event each month this season. While it's not clear when he will compete next, he is most likely to make his next start at the Players Championship, which takes place a couple of weeks from now.
Despite Tiger Woods' absence, the Cognizant Classic field will be star-studded, with 19 golfers out of the top 50 in OWGR in action this week. The field will be led by World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, returning to Palm Beach after six years. Here are the other top-ranked players competing at the Cognizant Classic 2024:
- Matt Fitzpatrick (9)
- Tom Kim (16)
- Cameron Young (23)
- Sepp Straka (25)
- Matthieu Pavon (26)
- Chris Kirk (27)
- Russell Henley (29)
- Rickie Fowler (31)
- Sungjae Im (34)
- Eric Cole (36)
- Lucas Glover (37)
- J.T. Poston (40)
- Ryan Fox (41)
- Min Woo Lee (42)
- Byeong Hun An (44)
- Justin Rose (46)
- Denny McCarthy (47)
- Corey Conners (49).
How has Tiger Woods performed at the Cognizant Classic in the past?
The 82-time PGA Tour winner has appeared at the Cognizant Classic five times and has missed the cut once. However, that missed cut came in 1993, when he was still an amateur.
Tiger Woods' next start at the Palm Beach came 19 years later when he finished joint runner-up after losing to Rory McIlroy by two strokes. This was his only top 10 at the tournament. Woods' last appearance at the event came in 2018 when he finished T12.