Now the idea is to play as much as he can.

"The plan is to play four out of five," Woods said after playing the back nine at TPC Boston. "That's the plan."

It's an ambitious plan for a 44-year-old who tries to avoid playing consecutive weeks, much less the three in a row that might be required for him to reach the Tour Championship for the first time since he won at East Lake in 2018.

"We're all getting used to the schedule. This is weird for every one of us." - Tiger Woods

That's also the last time Woods played three weeks in a row.

The road begins with The Northern Trust on Friday, the first of three playoff events that culminate in Atlanta with the Tour Championship and the $US15 million prize to the FedExCup champion.

Justin Thomas is the No. 1 seed – the eighth player in eight years to have the top seed starting the post-season – and played the nine-hole practice round with Woods, Ryan Palmer and Harold Varner III.

Woods wasn't sure where he stood in the FedExCup.

He thought it was No. 28, his position when golf shut down on March 15 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Having played only twice since golf returned in June, he has fallen to No. 49.

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Only the top 70 after this week advance to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields south of Chicago, and from there the top-30 go to East Lake in Atlanta for the Tour Championship.

That Woods is even as high as No. 49 is remarkable considering he has played only five times this season.

Because the Tour lost 13 weeks from its schedule due to the pandemic, FedExCup points for the playoff events are only triple in value instead of being worth four times as much. That will reduce some of the volatility.

A victory or runner-up finish at the TPC Boston, where Woods won in 2006, would lock up a spot in Atlanta and might afford him the chance to take off next week.

Considering he hasn't seriously contended since Japan last fall, odds are he'll have to play three in a row to reach Atlanta.

"That's the way it's going to work out," Woods said.

And then he would have one week to exhale before the US Open, one of the most gruelling weeks in golf at a Winged Foot course that Woods played on Monday.

"We're all getting used to the schedule," Woods said. "This is weird for every one of us."

- Doug Ferguson, Associated Press