Woods: Burnout an issue with heavy fall schedule

• By Ryan Lavner
• Aug 22, 2012 3:10 PM ET

Tiger Woods plans to play all four FedEx Cup playoff events this season, assuming he qualifies. That wasn’t always the case in the past, of course. In 2007 and ’08, Woods and Vijay Singh had locked up the $10 million bonus before the final event, removing all of the suspense from the 30-player, dash-for-the-cash Tour Championship at East Lake.

“Right now, we’re all playing for position going into the reset at the Tour Championship,” Woods told reporters in his pre-tournament news conference Wednesday at The Barclays. “Before it was just trying to accumulate whatever you can and keep it rolling. Now, you’re playing for a reset, and then anything can happen.”

There’s a catch, though. When the Ryder Cup ends on Sept. 30, Woods will have played eight significant events – four playoff tournaments, two majors, a World Golf Championship and Ryder Cup – in an 11-week stretch. Little wonder, Woods said, that Jason Dufner is skipping this week’s Barclays tournament to rest up for the finishing kick.

“This is a tremendous amount of golf starting with the British Open on through, and they’re all big events, that’s the thing,” said Woods, who is No. 1 in the FedEx Cup points standings. “I can see why some guys are taking a break.”

Asked if such a tournament-heavy schedule helps prepare players for events such as the Ryder Cup, Woods replied, “It keeps us fresh, but I hope it doesn’t get us burned out as well, playing that many events. There is going to be four big weeks leading up to our Ryder Cup, and it’s a lot. … If you’re playing well, it’ll be great. If you’re not playing well, you don’t have a lot of time to work on your game.”