Multiple major champion Tiger Woods will officially tee it up at next month’s Masters.
Woods, 48, was listed in the field for the first major of the year at Augusta National on 20 March.
The five-time Masters champion will be making his 26th appearance in the tradition unlike any other over 11-14 April.
His last competitive appearance on the PGA Tour was cut short after he was forced withdraw from the Genesis Invitational.
It was initially speculated that Woods’ ageing body was struggling to cope with the demands of professional golf.
But it soon emerged it was the flu that prompted his withdrawal from Riviera Country Club early in the second round.
His fans had hoped he would compete at the Players Championship last week but he decided against it.
That came as somewhat of a surprise given Woods had previously spoken of his desires to play at least once a month in 2024.
Woods could still play one ‘tune-up’ PGA Tour event before making the trip to Georgia.
He could participate in either the Texas Children’s Houston Open or Valero Texas Open.
Such prospects do seem unlikely but you never know with the iconic golfer.
It was at the 2022 Masters that Woods made a remarkable comeback following a near-fatal car crash in 2021.
The injuries he sustained after he rolled his luxury Genesis SUV in the Los Angeles hills made it difficult for him to walk the course.
He was in visible pain but rallied to make the cut. It was a similar story in 2023 and it prompted him to go under the knife once again.
That surgery – a subtalar fusion – led to Woods feeling more optimistic about playing competitively.
“I’m not concerned at all walking,” Woods said last November.
“I don’t have any of the ankle pains I had with the hardware that has been placed in my foot.
“That’s all gone, but it’s more the other parts of my body, my knee hurts, my back, the forces go somewhere else.
“Just like when I had my back fused, the forces got to go somewhere. It’s up the chain.
“So as I said, I’m just as curious as with all of you what’s going to happen. I haven’t done this in a while.”
News of Woods being listed in the Masters field led to a mixed reaction from golf fans.
One X user wrote: “Even if he only hit the range I would watch.”
Another added: “Hard to ever see him really competing ever again.”
World number one Scottie Scheffler is the betting favourite to win his second green jacket, followed by Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
Tiger Woods Masters record:
- Wins: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019
- Money won: $9,619,569
- Tournaments entered: 25
- Cuts made: 24
- Rounds played: 96
- Low round: 65;
- High round: 78
- Rounds under par: 51
- Scoring average: 71.10
