Is Tiger Woods Playing the 2024 Zurich Classic or Will Steve Stricker’s Dream Blow Up in Smoke?

“Wouldn’t it be cool to get the band together one more time?” asked an expectant Steve Stricker back in March when asked who he would like to team up with. However, who was he referring to? Well, the 57-year-old was alluding to none other than Tiger Woods, as he expressed his desire to play with the legend of the game at the upcoming Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour recently shared the field of the event that TPC Louisiana is set to host. However, contrary to popular expectations, it doesn’t seem that Stricker will play with Woods since the 48-year-old is not to be seen anywhere in the field of names, as opposed to the 2011 John Deere Classic champ.

Steve Stricker doesn’t get matched up with Tiger Woods

Interestingly, a tweet that was released recently by PGA Tour Communications on their X handle revealed Stricker to be paired up with Matt Kuchar. Meanwhile, much to the disappointment of the senior golfer, it would appear that Woods would go through with his plan of playing at one tournament per month, after a disastrous performance at the Masters.

That’s not all. Interestingly, Tiger Woods was also not spotted in the field for the ongoing RBC Heritage. However, it’s not just because of his one-tournament-a-month plan but also, shockingly, because of his not qualifying for the signature event at The Harbour Town Golf Links owing to his OWGR rank, among others.

What’s more, after his appearance at the 88th Masters, Mr. T had

doubled down on his game plan in the coming months. “Well, this is a golf course I knew going into it,” revealed the 15-time major champ while alluding to Augusta National after the Sunday round at the recent major before adding, “So I’m going to do my homework going forward at Pinehurst, Valhalla, and Troon, but that’s kind of the game plan.” 

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods had divulged the same: to play one event per month back in 2023 at the Hero World Challenge. However, he couldn’t deliver on his words in 2024, especially after his withdrawal from the Genesis Invitational. Anyhow, coming back to the case in point, Stricker would surely have been disappointed not to be able to play with the legend on the greens, especially after he expressed his desire to do so.

Stricker once longed to share the field with Woods

“I thought about asking him to see if he wanted to play in New Orleans at the team event,” disclosed the 12-time PGA Tour champ on The Loop podcast. Adding on, he recounted, “We had some great times being teammates on some of those teams over the years,” while alluding to the various Ryder Cup and President Cups the Woods-Stricker duo played in over the years.

But even so, the senior professional was realistic in his expectations as well. Elaborating on Tiger Woods’s health concerns, among others, he added, “Yeah, for him and I to play again. I don’t think that will happen, he’s got other issues than playing with me, but it would be fun and it’s fun thinking about it.” 

Anyhow, it seems the 48-year-old will only tee it off at the Valhalla Golf Course for the next major, the PGA Championship. Well, many of his fans, including Stricker, would want the golfer to fare better than he did at the Masters, where he scored a career-worst 10-over 82 on Saturday!