Tiger Woods will return to professional golf at the Masters 2022 after all but cofirming his return during his media session.
Woods met with the media on Tuesday and came close to giving a full commitment that he will play in the Masters 2022 this week.
It would be his first official PGA TOUR event since suffering serious injuries to his right leg and foot in a single car accident last February.
“As of right now, I feel like I am going to play,” the five-time Masters champion said during his press conference. “I’m going to play nine more holes tomorrow. My recovery has been good. I’ve been very excited about how I’ve recovered each and every day. That’s been the challenge.”
His comeback will be another turnaround in a career derailed by injuries and personal problems. The damage from his crash was severe enough for doctors to consider amputating his leg.
The 46-year-old at one point said his injuries would prevent him from competing full time on the PGA TOUR ever again.
That speculation around his return hit fever pitch when Woods released a statement on Sunday saying it would be a game-time decision whether he would participate.
“It’s just a matter of what my body is able to do the next day and the recovery. That’s the hard part,” Woods said. “We push it and try to recover the best we possibly can that night and see how we’re feeling the next morning.”
Woods owns a piece of history at Augusta. As the five-time champion, he trails only Jack Nicklaus in career green jackets.
Perhaps his best showing at the iconic event came in 2019 when he somehow won the tournament in his return from multiple knee and back surgeries. It was his first major championship in 11 years and raised the total for his career to 15, just three behind Nicklaus for most all time.
It seemed incredibly unlikely we would ever see a comeback story like 2019 in golf ever again but if Woods somehow captures another green jacket this time around, it will arguably be the greatest return in the history of sports.
