Tiger Woods' career as a golf course designer has begun to take off. The 14-time major winner has launched his TGR Design firm and his Bluejack National design in the Houston, Texas area was named the best new private course of 2016 by Golf Digest.

 

His next big project in the United States will reportedly be overseeing the renovation of Chicago's Jackson Park golf courses into a championship level 18-hole course and either a short course -- like the one he just debuted at Diamante in Mexico -- or a par-3 course, according to the Chicago Tribune.

 

"This project can create incredible possibilities for the community on the South Side," Woods said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune through TGR Design. "We want to design a course that everyone will enjoy."

 

President Barack Obama is reportedly among those that pushed Woods into taking on the project as lead designer, calling Woods to encourage him as the park renovation is in Obama's hometown of Chicago -- and not far from the planned Obama Presidential Center, according to the report.

 

The project will be funded by the soon to be formed Chicago Parks Golf Alliance, a non-profit created by mayor Rahm Emanuel to help raise money for the project as well as create other youth golf programs in the city, per the Tribune.

 

Groundbreaking on the project will begin in the spring, but the current Jackson Park golf courses will remain open for the next two years with a target date for the completion of the project set for 2020. The goal is to have the new course host a PGA Tour event -- they are reportedly targeting the BMW Championship -- as early as 2021.

 

Despite the $30 million renovation and desires to become part of the PGA Tour rotation, the new course will remain a public course, making it one of the rare public PGA Tour courses in the country -- the most famous of those being Bethpage Black in New York.