The Masters 2022: Tiger Woods confirms he will play at Augusta
Fourteen months after a serious car accident in which he narrowly avoided having his leg amputated, Tiger Woods will make his return to the Masters.
Golf
Don't miss out on the headlines from Golf. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The comeback is on.
Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods has confirmed he will tee it up at Augusta on Thursday, barring a last-minute setback.
“I’ve worked hard … as of right now, I feel like I’m going to play,” the 15-time major champion said.
“My recovery has been good. I’ve been very excited about how I’ve recovered each and every day, and that’s been the challenge.”
Woods, 46, suffered horrific injuries to his right leg in a single-car accident outside Los Angeles last February.
He narrowly avoided amputation and spent months in rehabilitation.
The golfing legend will play nine more holes on Wednesday to “test” out the leg but said he had “endured pain before” to win majors.
“This is different obviously. This is a lot more traumatic,” he said.
Watch Every Round of The 2022 Masters at Augusta National with Fox Sports on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
“I can hit it just fine. I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s now walking is the hard part. This is normally not an easy walk to begin with. “Given the conditions that my leg is in, it gets even more difficult.”
Asked if he believed he could win a sixth green jacket, Woods said: “I do … 72 holes is a long road, but it’s a challenge that I’m up for.”
He said he was “thankful” for the opportunity to compete again. His last tournament was here in November 2020.
“I love competing, and I feel like if I can still compete at the highest level, I’m going to, and if I feel like I can still win, I’m going to play. But if I feel like I can’t, then you won’t see me out here. You guys know me better than that,” Woods said.
“There will be a day when it won’t happen, and I’ll know when that is, but physically the challenge this week is I don’t have to worry about the ball striking or the game of golf, it’s actually just the hills out here. That’s going to be the challenge, and it’s going to be a challenge of a major marathon …
“It’s up to me to endure the pain and all that, but I felt like I could still do this. I don’t know how many more years I can do this.”
Woods said the adulation he received from the Augusta patrons during his practice round on Monday playing alongside Fred Couples and Justin Thomas was similar to the energy when he won here in 2019.
“But everyone loves Freddy – that’s why they came out,” he joked.
He said movement in his battered right leg “with the rods and plates and screws” was unlikely to improve but it would get “stronger” in the coming months.
Success this week, Woods declared, would mean entering “the back nine on Sunday with a chance”.
Rival Rory McIlroy said he would not be surprised to see Woods in contention on Sunday.
“I’ve spent a little bit of time with him at home, and the golf is there,” he said.
“He’s hitting it well. He’s chipping well. He’s sharp. It’s just the physical demand of getting around 72 holes here this week. That’s probably the question mark. But the golf game is there. So, would I be surprised? No, I’m not surprised at anything he does anymore.”
Augusta’s undulating terrain will add another element of difficulty to Wood’s remarkable comeback bid.
“The only flat spots here are the 18 tee boxes,” he said.
Pressed on whether he would have been satisfied with a career that has netted 82 victories and 15 majors if the accident had ended his playing days, Woods said: “Yes, I would have. I think 82 is a pretty good number, and 15’s not too bad either”.
INSANE IMAGES AS TIGERMANIA TAKES OVER AUGUSTA
Tiger Woods ranks 944th in the world, turns 47 in December and is recovering from a near amputation of his shattered leg – and yet by the length of Rae’s Creek winding through Amen Corner remains the biggest show in golf.
Age, injury and the reality he has won just one major tournament since 2008 have done little to curb the latest outbreak of Tigermania ahead of this week’s Masters.
In fact, maybe this latest against-all-odds comeback attempt, just a year after suffering gruesome injuries in a Californian car wreck, has elevated the legend of Woods to even greater heights than his remarkable victory here three years ago.
Galleries 20 and 30 deep greeted the 15-time major winner during a Monday afternoon practice round at Augusta with close buddies Fred Couples and Justin Thomas.
Simply, no player moves the needle in the multi-billion-dollar world of professional golf – or perhaps any other sport – like the phenomenon that is Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods.
TV ratings in tournament’s featuring the American superstar can climb upwards of 50 per cent, while interest in this year’s Masters, already golf’s most watched event, is soaring to another level.
As NBC golf analyst Paul Azinger once said of Woods: “The Tour is a two-pony show. Tiger is one pony and the rest are the other pony. Not to take anything away from those guys; they’d probably admit it, too.”
It’s a God-like status reserved only for the likes of Michael Jordan or Usain Bolt – heights maybe only Shane Warne and Greg Norman ever reached in modern-day Australian sport.
Social media sites went into meltdown late last week when Woods’ private jet was tracked en route to Georgia. Even debate over Tiger’s preferred new brand of therapeutic golf shoes (not his trademarks Nikes) blew up the internet when he hit the Augusta driving range on Sunday.
Woods, walking with a limp and favouring his right leg, says it will be a “game-time decision” on Thursday if he opts to tee it up but all signs are pointing to another famous chapter.
Butch Harmon, Woods’ caddie for his first green jacket triumph a quarter of a century ago, declared this week that he didn’t believe Tiger would bother playing if he didn’t believe he could win.
“He won’t just pitch up and shoot 78-78 — that to me is not what Tiger Woods is about,” Harmon said.
Woods has overcome spinal fusion surgery, chronic neck pain, personal anguish, scandal, divorce and even the chipping yips to compete at the highest level deep into his 40s.
His most recent professional event was back in November 2020, but even the bookies seem hesitant to totally rule him out at Augusta. And can you really blame them?
Across a remarkable 25-year playing career (683 cumulative weeks as world No. 1), Tiger has saluted five times at Augusta; 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2019 – and boasts another nine top-10 finishes.
“I think it is probably highly unlikely that he would win the Masters again or any other major championship,” Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams told News Corp this week.
“But hey look, he’s Tiger Woods and you never put anything past him.”
I don’t know if people truly understand what this must be like. I struggle to wrap my head around it sometimes. It’s MONDAY #TigerWoods#themasterspic.twitter.com/C4xOJ3WaZO
— Dave Ross (@drosssports) April 4, 2022
Look at the crowds following Tiger Woods at the third round of the Masters.
— Mike Cole (@MikeColeNESN) April 4, 2022
Oh, wait, nope. That's a Monday practice round. (via Rob Schumacher/USATSI) pic.twitter.com/2Ty6C5VWT2
Golf is bulging with a new era of talent – 10 younger rivals including Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth have attained the No. 1 mantle since Woods last held it eight years ago – and yet Tiger’s star still burns the brightest.
It’s a combination of legend status and an army of admirers clinging to the hope that he might just win again.
AUSSIE ROOKIE SWEPT UP IN TIGER FRENZY
Michael Warner
Australian Masters rookie Cameron Davis got swept up in the Tiger Woods frenzy on Sunday, playing a few holes with the 15-time major champion by chance.
Heavy traffic during practice rounds on Augusta’s back nine saw the duo pair up.
“He ended up behind me and just joined up with me because it was a little slow in front of us,” Davis said.
“I tried to pick his brain a little bit, but at the same time, just enjoying being in his presence.
“I’ve met him a couple of times – it was the first time I’ve played any golf with him. That was an enjoyable first go around here tournament week. No fans or anything, just quiet. I hit with Tiger, it was nice.”
Asked how Woods, 46, recovering from a near leg amputation suffered in a car crash last February, was coping, Davis said: “Still a little slow going up a couple of hills on 17 and 18. I mean, I was as well. He’s been through a lot more than I have.
“He’s striking it well. He’s hitting it far enough to play the holes the way you need to play them. I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be able to put rounds together out here.”
The PGA Tour winner said Woods gave him some tips on handling Augusta’s fast-breaking greens.
“Just play the high line, and the high line is higher than you think. I think that was the main one,” Davis said.
Originally published as The Masters 2022: Tiger Woods confirms he will play at Augusta
SA star comes up clutch to win in second playoff hole at WA PGA
It took a second sudden-death playoff hole to split South Australian Jack Buchanan and West Australian Jordan Doull in an epic finish to the WA PGA Championship.
Aussie golf fans could share in a million dollars
The PGA has teamed up with a sports bookmaker for an Australian first – offering golf fans a chance to share in a million dollars if a player scores a hole-in-one.