Tiger Woods hits from the fourteenth hole tee box during the second round of the The Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Tiger Woods has decided not to play in next week’s Honda Classic, passing on the event near his South Florida home for the second straight year, according to multiple media reports.
There was no commitment from Woods by the 3 p.m. ET deadline Friday to play at Palm Beach Gardens’ PGA National. He also passed on joining the field at this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship.
On Sunday, Woods hinted at what his future schedule would look like after his last-place finish (11-over-par 295) at the Genesis Invitational among players who made the cut.
“I was just off, it happens,’’ said Woods, who has been bothered by a “stiff” back. “I’m off and I got a chance to have the week off this week (passing on the WGC-Mexico Championship) and do a little prep, a little practicing, some training, be at home and all positive things.’’
Beside the Genesis, Woods has played in only one other official event in 2020 — the Farmers Insurance Open, where he tied for ninth. If his back improves, the Jupiter Island resident could possibly be ready for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship before defending his title at the Masters on April 9-12.
His last victory on the tour came at the inaugural ZOZO Championship in Chiba, Japan, in October, when he tied Sam Snead’s PGA Tour record of 82 career titles.
With Tiger Woods skipping Honda Classic, where will we see him next?
As of 5 p.m. ET Friday evening, the reigning Masters champion was not on the commitment list for next week's Honda Classic, played near his home in Jupiter, Florida. Woods last played the Honda in 2018, when he finished 12th.
Woods also opted not to play this week's World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, citing back stiffness that bothered him throughout the Genesis Invitational, where he finished last among those who made the cut.
A year ago, Woods finished in a tie for 10th in the Mexico Championship while never seriously contending for the title. That was one of five tournaments Woods played leading into the Masters, where he won his fifth green jacket and 15th major championship.
Woods, 44, has played just two tournaments this year. He tied for ninth in the Farmers Insurance Open and finished 68th in last week's Genesis Invitational, where he was pulling double duty as the host of the event that benefits his foundation.
It's still unknown which events Woods, ranked No. 9 in the world, will play heading to Augusta National and his title defense in April. Last year, Woods played the Farmers, Genesis, Mexico Championship, The Players and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
He also was scheduled to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational but withdrew with a neck injury.
This year, it's likely he'll play the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks, a tournament he has won a record eight times. Next up could be The Players Championship, which falls the week after the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Two weeks later is the Match Play. Two weeks after the Match Play is the Masters.
After the final round of the Genesis at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles, Woods said he would spend this week training and resting before turning his attention to his golf game.
Woods, who won the Zozo Championship last fall for his record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title, finished at 11-over-par 295 in the Genesis. It was just the second time in his career that he was last among those who made the cut. At the 2015 Memorial, he shot a third-round 85 - his worst score as a professional - before finishing last.
"Well, I did not do much well today. Good news, I hit every ball forward, not backwards, a couple sideways," he said with a laugh at Rivera. "But overall, I'm done. I was just off. It happens.
"I got a chance to have the week off this week and do a little prep, a little practicing, some training, be at home and all positive things."
Meetings Can Be a Waste of Time and Money, but Skipping them Isn't Free
When I managed a team, we had a team meeting every other week. At the beginning of the year, I booked the conference room for the entire year's worth of meetings.
It won't surprise you that not all of those meetings happened.
What surprised me is new research out of Norway that says that 30 percent of scheduled meetings never happen and it costs businesses a fortune. They estimate, for instance, that a business with 250 employees in New York City wastes almost $150,000 a year on canceled meetings.
The reasoning isn't the lack of work accomplished or ordered lunches that go to waste, but in office space.
Think back to my bi-weekly meetings. I booked the conference room in January for meetings in August that were not all going to happen. That means that when one of my coworkers wanted to hold a meeting, they couldn't use my conference room--it was booked. Businesses, as a result, have more conference rooms than they actually need.
It's a hard balance--especially when you have open office spaces a conference room is the only practical place to hold a meeting--even if it's only with two people. You don't want to have so few conference rooms that frustration is the most commonly felt emotion around the office. But, more conference rooms require more space. More space requires higher rent. Rent costs money.
Their study showed that conference rooms tend to be booked 90 percent of the time, but with a 30 percent no-show rate. If that's true in your office, you could save money (or maybe even use a conference room for actual office space!) by having fewer conference rooms, if people promised to only book when really needed.
That's hard to do.
Back to my original example, I thought it was important to have regular team meetings and I hope my team found them valuable. If I didn't book in advance, we'd be scrambling the day of to find a location where we could fit. Given the nature of our discussion (confidential employee information), we didn't want to shift to a free conference room in the marketing department or something, where someone sticking their head in could be problematic. So, I booked in advance.
And so did my colleagues for the same reason.
You could say "no booking more than two weeks out," which makes sense unless someone is coming from another site or an outside vendor or consultant is coming in and you need to make plans in advance. You don't want to wait to book a conference room for 30 and find out that there are only the tiny ones left.
In other words, I have no idea what the solution is. Perhaps having more conference space than you absolutely need is the best way to do it--and it would cost you more money in lost productivity if you had fewer conference rooms.
Regardless, it's something worth looking into. Perhaps pay attention and see what the usage rate for your conference rooms is. Maybe you can implement some money saving changes, or at least have a better idea of what the best use of space is.
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