Tiger Woods: Where and When Will He Play Golf in 2011

Fans of Tiger Woods want to know when he will play golf again. The answer for the rest of 2011 is not soon and not often. It all depends on his left leg. For the near term, that means The Byron Nelson, Memorial and Fed Ex St. Jude are out of luck. There's no Woods for them in 2011.

Woods has said that he will try to play the US Open in mid-June. Set your DVRs for June 16. If it goes well, he could finish top 20. Perhaps like at Pebble Beach, top five. That's assuming he can chip and putt a little bit better than we have seen recently. The greens at Congressional will be baked to a crisp, a lot faster than they can get them at Pebble Beach.

Then Woods will disappear for two weeks until his own AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, Fourth of July weekend. Woods has won the tournament before, but this time, it's going to a different course, and if he is healthy after the US Open, he will not take any chances on hurting himself prior to the British Open hitting a squirrely shot.

Worst case, top-30 finish. There's pride involved.

Immediately after that, he gets on a jet and takes a short ride to play for his college teammate at the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, N.Y. Remind anyone of the Shakespearean play, Two Gentlemen of Verona, except it's not a love story, and it's not in Italy? OK, no similarities, although golf was played in Shakespeare's time. Woods can finish last. He won't, but he could. However, for once, it's not about the W. He's there to support a friend.

Assuming Woods gets this far into the calendar without additional injury, his next tournament will be the British Open being played at Royal St. George's which gave us Bill Rogers in 1981, Greg Norman in 1993 and Ben Curtis in 2003.

Curtis finished ahead of the leaders, all of whom faltered on the way home, handing the Claret Jug to the man from Ohio. Is he this year's Greg Norman? Does he win in a playoff the way Norman did? Does he finish early and watch the rest of the field melt? Or does he go oh-for-three in the first three majors of the year. It's probably going to be the latter.

After that, Woods will tee it up at WGC Bridgestone, which he has practically owned. Remember, this is where he got the drop from nine fairway after hitting a shot that bounced over the roof of the clubhouse.

In a short field, look for Woods to be top 10. He's played Firestone so many times and won so many times there, that he's like Fred Couples at Riviera. He could play it blindfolded. He might even win it.

The PGA Championship will be in Hotlanta. And that's just a bad but real joke. Atlanta in August. You'll be able to smell the gallery from a mile away, never mind the writers, reporters and TV crews. Woods and the PGA. It was the tournament where he led after 54 holes and didn't close the deal for the first time. It's the second hardest tournament to win all year, and he withdrew from the hardest one. Hmmm.

Distance will matter but the rough in Atlanta, Bermuda with a whole summer to grow, will be like playing out of steel wool. Unless it gets a haircut to make it playable, players could sprain wrists and elbows in the stuff, just like Mickelson did at Oakmont a couple years ago. (Champion Ultra Dwarf Bermuda greens, Diamond Zoysia fairways and Tifton 10 Bermuda rough.)

Woods has hoisted a lot of Wanamaker trophies, but this year, unless something miraculous happens in his practice routine, it will be a tough ask to get to the winner's circle. top 15, not a problem. Missed cut? Not likely.

Again, this supposes no further injuries. Remember, so far this season, he's played in five and withdrawn in one, and we are almost five months into the year.

Then we come to the really iffy part of the season, the playoffs. Last year Woods made it through three of them, but not to the Tour Championship. This year, so far, he's rather low on the Fed Ex points tally in 89th place.

He needs a top-120 finish in the standings to get into Barclays. If he gets to Barclays, and it's not a given, he should advance to the Deutsch Bank and then BMW. Whether he makes it to the top 30 for the Tour Championship is impossible to tell at this juncture. If he has the points, he will be there.

Then look for Woods to take a month away from professional golf. He's not playing the Fall Series. So don't look for him at the Justin Timberlake in Las Vegas, Frys.com, McGladrey on Sea Island and Children's Miracle Network at Disney

He is likely to tee it up at The WGC-HSBC Champions in China, which he will want to win because it's now a World Golf Championship. Then it's on to the Barclays Singapore Open, where he will want to finish ahead of Phil Mickelson. Finally, he'll tee it up at The Presidents Cup in Australia.

People will argue whether Woods should be a pick for the team if he does not make it on points. There's no way Fred Couples leaves Tiger Woods off the US Team. It will not happen. Just having him show up is worth a couple points somehow.

After that, it's home to the Chevron World Challenge where he will try to beat a short but elite field and hope that no one pulls a Graeme McDowell on him in 2011. He nearly won last year, which would have made a great statement to preview 2011, but McDowell out putted him, something that has seldom happened to Woods. Look for Woods to win or, worst case, finish top five—out of 12.

May 26 - 29 HP Byron Nelson Championship

June 02 - 05 The Memorial Tournament

June 09 - 12 FedEx St. Jude Classic

June 16 - 19 U.S. Open #

June 23 - 26 Travelers Championship

June 30 - July 03 AT&T National

July 5 Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge

July 07 - 10 John Deere Classic

July 14 - 17 British Open #
July 21 - 24 RBC Canadian Open
July 28 - 31 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational
Aug. 11 - 14 PGA Championship

Aug. 18 - 21 Wyndham Championship

Aug. 25 - 28 The Barclays
Sep. 02 - 05 Deutsche Bank Championship
Sep. 15 - 18 BMW Championship

Sep. 22 - 25 THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola

Oct. 18 - 19 PGA Grand Slam of Golf

November 3-6 WGC-HSBC Champions China

November 10-13 Barclays Singapore Open
Nov. 17 - 20 The Presidents Cup

Dec. 01 - 04 Chevron World Challenge