Some thoughts on the world of golf with the Masters less than eight weeks away:

When Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B XS) speaks, we all listen.

As the host of the Genesis Invitational this week, Woods held his annual address about his health, career, playing in the Masters and the PGA Tour at large.

Woods is gradually returning to swinging his clubs from his latest back surgery last fall, which naturally had reporters asking him about his playing status. He did not specify when he will return to playing again, yet he tersely and emphatically did not rule out playing in the Masters.

“No,” he said.

Woods has always tried to play in the Masters, no matter his physical condition.

His last Masters win came in 2019 and it was truly memorable, but that was seven years ago. More recently, it’s not been about whether Woods will win it again to tie Jack Nicklaus for the most victories in tournament history, but whether he will make the cut.

Woods knows the course so well that if he if is remotely in decent physical shape, there’s a good chance of surviving the cut. But even if he does, he is no longer a factor to contend.

Even though it’s a compelling story line for TV, the Masters is quite capable of standing on its own merit and history without Woods’ presence.

Speaking of Woods, The Golf Channel had an interesting five-part series in which Jordan Spieth (Titleist Pro V1x) interviewed him. The occasion was Woods winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Open in 2000 and his amazing run that year, winning The PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open.

While there’s no denying Woods’ history and how it never gets old seeing him on his ascent to greatness before injuries impacted his career, I found it interesting that Spieth interviewed him instead of a traditional journalist, maybe even Jim Nantz, who can make any subject seem that much more sublime. Not that Spieth can’t do that, but frankly Spieth is at his most entertaining self when golfing. He has a history of making crazy shots, including in the recent AT&T, and berating himself with comments such as “Oh, Jordan.” When he’s in contention, it matters. There is still interest in Spieth, even though he is no longer a bonafide challenger to win routinely. It almost seems like Spieth has been around forever.

I was watching the Pebble Beach Open with my daughter’s fiancé and when Jacob Bridgeman (Titleist Pro V1) was hitting an iron off of some pebbles on the beach, I said: “Now you know why it is called the Pebble Beach Open.” Watching Bridgeman hit the shot and see it land in the water, I felt bad for him essentially seeing his chance of possibly winning go into the ocean. He looked so steady prior to that.

There has been talk the tournament may be moved into later in the year. The weather this time of the year has made it maddening for the golfers. As picturesque as the layout may be, the tournament becomes a crapshoot when the wind and the rain make things dicey. When it comes to The Open, the players know they could be dealing in any kind of weather, but I don’t think that has to be the case for the Pebble Beach Open in February.

So if it is moved – and there’s talk new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp wants to make some changes to the schedule to essentially put his stamp on things and apparently the players are in agreement – positioning it in the summer will be way more appealing, I think.

There’s talk the start of the PGA Tour schedule with tournaments in Hawaii may be done, again to create a schedule that will perhaps go further into the fall. One thing is for sure, there are always ways to make the schedule more appealing beyond just throwing money into the purses.