Woods Awaiting Players Championship Battle With Mickelson, Confirms Entry For The Open

Tiger Woods will play the 147th Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland, in July. The American confirmed his entry on the eve before the start of the Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass Golf Course on Wednesday.

The 14-time major winner, who has won the Claret Jug on three occasions, made his comeback earlier this year after spending 16-months on the sidelines with chronic back injury issues that has required four surgeries during his career.

Woods made his first appearance at a major since 2015 at the Augusta Masters earlier this year and looks on course to play the US Open in June this year. He has played seven events since returning to action at the Farmers Insurance Open in January this year.

The 42-year-old won The Open in 2000, 2005 and 2006 and is hoping to make it three in Scotland when the third major of the season is played between July 19-22 at the Carnoustie Golf Links.

I won two of my Open Championships in Scotland and the other one in England, so let's try and add another one in there," Woods confirmed via The Open’s official Twitter account Wednesday.

Woods, meanwhile, is still searching for his first win after making his comeback, but has put in some impressive performances along the way. His tied-second place (T2) at the Valspar Championships earlier in the year was his best finish since 2013.

The American golf icon’s performance in Valspar catapulted him to be named the joint favorite ahead of the 2018 Masters Tournament, but he failed to live up to the inflated expectations finishing T32. Woods did play down the expectations before the event and after his T55 performance at the recently concluded Wells Fargo Championships, the expectations are lower as he begins his campaign at the Players Championship on Thursday.

However, Woods’ pairing with long-time rival Phil Mickelson for the first two rounds at the TPC Sawgrass Golf Course has generated plenty of attention for the event. The former world number one compared his rivalry with Mickelson to that of veterans Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer suggesting they always kept an eye out for their rivals’ progress when they were playing the same event.

Woods and Mickelson have played together 36 times in 25 events, with each beating the other on 16 occasions and four ending in ties. Woods won seven of those events, Mickelson two, with Tiger holding a 69.66 to 69.88 scoring edge, as per Woods’ official site.

This around, however, Mickelson could have the edge as he has already won one event this year — the WGC-Mexico Championship — and managed four other top-six finishes, while Woods has managed just two top-five finishes.

“I think it’s going to be fun playing with him again,” said Woods, as quoted on his official site. “It’s always been a blast. He’s one hell of a competitor and it’s always going to be a challenge to try and beat him.”

Woods begins play Thursday at 1:52 p.m. EDT on the first tee. On Friday, he starts at 8:27 a.m. EDT on the 10th tee.