Justin Thomas: Tiger Woods is ‘scared to come out and play against all of us’

DUBLIN, Ohio – As expected, Tiger Woods is scheduled to pick up his season next week at the Memorial after five months of competitive inactivity, and Justin Thomas can’t wait.

“I think he was starting to get a little sassy, I was telling him he’s scared to come out and play against all of us when he’s sitting at home, just trying to give him a hard time,” joked Thomas following the third round at the Workday Charity Open.

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Thomas said the last time he played a round with Woods was in May prior to The Match: Champions for Charity, which Woods won paired with Peyton Manning.

“I hadn’t played with him in a while. Just because I’ve been busy. I’ve been playing, and he’s been home,” said Thomas, who worked as an on-course analyst during The Match. “I’m glad that he’s finally coming back out.”

Woods hasn’t played an official PGA Tour event since the Genesis Invitational in February. He skipped potential starts at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Honda Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players with back issues and has not made a start since the Tour resumed its schedule last month.