Golf fans will have to wait a little while longer to find out whether Tiger Woods will make a surprising return to this month’s Masters.
Speculation has been building that Woods will compete at Augusta, where the tournament is due to start on Thursday, after he played a practice round at the course last week. The 15-time major winner has not played professional golf since a serious car crash last year that many believed would end his career.
Related: Phil Mickelson to miss the Masters for the first time in 28 years
On Sunday, Woods confirmed he was continuing to practice at Augusta but would not make an immediate decision on whether to play at the tournament.
“I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice,” he wrote on Twitter. “It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete. Congratulations to 16-year-old Anna Davis on an amazing win at the @anwagolf and good luck to all the kids in the @DriveChipPutt.”
I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice. It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete. Congratulations to 16-year-old Anna Davis on an amazing win at the @anwagolf and good luck to all the kids in the @DriveChipPutt.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 3, 2022
Augusta is known as a physically demanding due to its hills and length, and the 46-year-old Woods is likely to test how his body reacts to playing the course over the next few days before making a final decision. Woods sustained serious injuries in last February’s crash, including open fractures of the tibia and fibula in his right leg.
“My right leg does not look like my left leg, let’s put it that way,” Woods told reporters earlier this year at the Genesis Invitational.
Woods has won the Masters five times and if he plays at this year’s tournament, it will be the second time Augusta has been the venue of a remarkable comeback for the American. In 2019, he returned from a series of back surgeries to win the Masters, his first major since 2008. This year’s tournament is the 25th anniversary of his first Masters victory, when he won by a record 12 shots.
The Masters does not have a strict deadline for players to confirm whether they will compete, meaning he could leave his decision as late as Thursday. Other golfers have said they would welcome Woods’s return.
“For golf and for the Masters tournament and for everyone, to have Tiger there would be phenomenal. I think it just adds to the event. Obviously, it does,” said Rory McIlroy. “Anything Tiger Woods does in the game of golf is heightened whenever he’s there. I mean, it would be awesome for him to be there.”
