DUBLIN — If a Tiger chips out on 18 and no one is there, does it make a noise?
Tiger Woods returns to the PGA Tour for the first time in five months, and it’s a different world compared to when he last played on Feb. 16 at his Genesis Invitational.
That much was clear when Woods pulled into the parking lot at the Muirfield Village Golf Club and changed shoes while wearing a mask on his way to playing a practice round Tuesday.
And he will notice the biggest change when the biggest draw in golf plays without fans.
The Memorial has no spectators.
In fact, the PGA Tour says there won’t be fans all the way through the Tour Championship. That’s one adjustment Woods will have to make. He is used to the loudest cheers for every birdie he makes.
“There’s nothing to feed off of, energy-wise, you make a big par, or make a big chip or hit a hell of a shot, there’s no one there,” he told reporters.
The field for the 45th Memorial Tournament, which begins Thursday morning, includes winners of every PGA Tour event since the restart from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Along with Woods, the 133-player field includes the winners of 61 major championships and features the top 10 in FedExCup points, 2019 Memorial Tournament winner Patrick Cantlay and three-time major champion Jordan Spieth.
The world ranking is so tight that everyone in the top 5 has a mathematical chance of overtaking Rory McIlroy for the No. 1 spot.
Collin Morikawa won the Workday Open last week at Muirfield. This is the first time in 63 years the PGA Tour has held events on the same course in consecutive weeks.
There is one event today: The Nationwide Challenge, benefiting Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a charity exhibition match which will be played on the on the back nine and will air from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on PGA Tour Live and the Golf Channel.
The match features second-ranked player in the world Jon Rahm and PGA TOUR winner Tony Finau against six-time European Ryder Cup team member Ian Poulter and 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.
Team Rahm/Finau will be playing for the Memorial Tournament Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nationwide Children’s and team Poulter/McDowell will represent the Hospital’s On Our Sleeves national behavioral health movement.