Getty Images

Still three months clear of the first shots being hit at Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the 9th installment of the President’s Cup, the Ryder Cup’s not-as-attractive little brother, and wouldn’t you know it, Tiger Woods is the story.

Fresh off a missed cut at the season’s last major championship, Woods left the grounds of Atlanta Athletic Club with questions swirling about when we would see the former World No. 1 again. Announcing that he wouldn’t be playing this week’s Wyndham Championship because he had “family obligations,” Woods kissed his chance at making the season-ending FedEx Cup Playoffs goodbye.

Ranked 129th going into this week, Tiger will only be going south in the rankings. That said, the next tournament on his schedule not counting his playing in the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge is the Australian Open the week before the President’s Cup.

As is Tiger’s MO, he doesn’t really let anyone into what he is planning, but there are a certain group of events that barring injury, Woods is always at. We’ve come to count the WGC HSBC Champions among those, however, Woods is not the veritable lock for the field as he used to be.

Sitting at No. 33 in the world following the PGA Championship, Woods’ ranking is, like his FedEx Cup standing, going south. With a limited field of 78 players in Shanghai, Tiger has some work to do if he plans on being in the field, but he hasn’t hinted that any work would be done.

US captain Fred Couples has said that if Woods wants to be on the team, then he has a spot whether he qualifies or not. He said that at the Memorial two months ago. Freddie mentioned that if a player wants to be on his team, they better play the Aussie Open and Woods obliged. Since the Memorial, Couples has backed off the Tiger guarantee a little bit, but not entirely.

“I really want him on the team based on, in my opinion, he’s been the best player for 10 straight years,” Couples said today at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. “I don’t think you can just push him down because maybe he’s not playing as well as 20 other guys who can end up getting picked.

“We’re going to figure out a way to get this done. In my opinion, for him to play [on the team], I think he needs to play a little bit. He just can’t show up the week before in Australia.”

It’s possible that Woods may do just that if he fails to qualify for the HSBC Champions. There are other options, however, such as playing in some Fall Series events or skipping across the pond to play in some European Tour events.

I know one thing, as I’ve said before, there is a better chance of me making a start in the Fall Series than Tiger Woods.

The European Tour route may be the most beneficial because it’s the most likely. The Euro Tour is not shy about shelling out appearance fees and we know that Woods follows the money. He can get his “reps” over in Europe and please his captain at the same time, ensuring his captain’s pick.

Of course, we won’t know what Woods is doing until the week or so before-hand. So, for now, we have to sit and wait.

At least this week, we can see some guys who want to play for their spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.