Tiger Woods: Can He Win His Own Event and Make the FedEx Playoffs This Year?

With four weeks left in the regular PGA Tour season, Tiger Woods is in a more than precarious position in FedEx Cup points. While the tournament he hosts, the Quicken Loans National, is played next week, he may need to win it to make the playoffs.         

Right now, Woods is in 195th place. He needs to reach 125th or better in a month, when the Wyndham Championship concludes. A victory and 500 points would get him into the first week, the Barclays.

It's going to be an uphill battle since Woods is only playing in two events in the next four weeks. That's because, for the first time in recent history, Woods does not qualify for the WGC Bridgestone as he is not in the top 50 in the world, was not on the most recent Ryder Cup team and did not win a qualifying tournament.

He knows he's behind in the FedEx point count.

"I just need to get my ranking up high enough so I can get into some of these events," he said about the playoffs and Bridgestone. "It's kind of funny to think about that. I think I've won at Firestone eight times and I'm not in the event."

Last year, the cutoff to make the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs was 438 points. Woods currently has 95 points. A victory in any event, including the Quicken Loans National, is worth 500 points. Second place is worth 300 points. The PGA Championship is worth more.

So, while it's possible for Woods to make the playoffs, it's not likely based on this year's performance. If he finished second and third in the events left on his schedule, he would have a chance. From there, he'd have to have higher finishes to continue to Atlanta and the Tour Championship. It is a tough ask.

This coming week, the Quicken Loans National will be played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, alongside Lake Manassas, in Gainesville, Virginia. The course has some history with golf and with Woods, all good. It was the site of the Presidents Cup in 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2005. Woods was a part of all but the initial event there.

"This is exciting for all of us, to go back to RTJ (Robert Trent Jones Golf Club). I hadn't been there since '05," he said during media day. He was on three victorious U.S. Presidents Cup teams at the facility.

As far as how the course will play, Woods predicts the setup will provide a good test and hopes the PGA Tour will allow some scoring.

"You can set it up in ways that you can make a lot of birdies. A lot of balls can funnel into the flags, or you can set it up like they did in the (Presidents Cup) singles where no one makes birdies," he said.

While he realizes that the PGA Tour likes a mixture of tough and playable holes, he added, "Birdies are definitely more exciting, so I probably suspect that they'll make it more towards that."

To Woods, the tournament serves a more important role than crowning a champion. It supports three Tiger Woods Learning Centers in Washington, D.C., in Wards 6 and 7 and at the Marine Corps Base at Quantico. Students in grades 5-12 can participate in an interactive STEM curriculum at the learning centers and get exposure to college-access programs. There are also developmental golf programs.

"One thing that has been near and dear to my heart is obviously this is a tournament that was close to my dad and I, and we have always kept a military presence involved in the event, and we give out 30,000 tickets every year to our men and women who serve our country and their little kids, and they come out."

Woods continues to work on his game and has not given up on the possibility of adding his 79th victory this week.

"Looking forward to playing the Quicken Loans and hopefully winning that event so I can get into a place that I know very well," he said, referring to Firestone Country Club.

No matter what happens at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Woods will play in the PGA Championship in August because he is exempt as a past champion. At that juncture, we will know if the 2015 playoffs are in his future.  

Kathy Bissell is a golf writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand or from official interview materials from the PGA Tour, USGA, R&A or PGA of America.