Tiger Woods is looking to make an extraordinary return at The Masters next week – with the legendary American in preparations to do so for months.
The 48-year-old was away from the sport for seven months after suffering an injury at last year’s Major tournament. He made a brief comeback over the winter then saw his full-blown PGA Tour return cut short as he withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in February due to illness.
He returned to the course earlier this month, playing in the Seminole Pro-Member which also featured Rory McIlroy and Tom Brady. And he’s recently played a practice round at Augusta National as all signs point to a return to try and win a sixth Green Jacket.
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The five-time Masters and 15-time major championship winner has long been targeting being on the course at this years tournament in Augusta. And his comeback efforts reportedly have involved getting himself in the gym at 4am to do all he can to put himself in the best position to be ready.
Former PGA Tour player Brandel Chamblee claimed back in November that Woods’ rivals had received messages from him showing his true desire to get back to his best this year. According to the Golf Channel pundit, Woods had texted several stars in the early hours, at around 4am, to document
He said Woods’ text read: “I’m in the gym. What are you doing to get better?”
And while he had admitted that he had been rusty after his layoff in 2023, Woods has already been spotted at the Augusta course preparing himself to compete alongside the likes of Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.
After fans tracked his flights to Augusta, Sports Illustrated reported that he played with club chairman Fred Ridley and Justin Thomas, with Woods hopeful of playing for just the second time this year.
his return and sum up how hard he’s working to get back to the top.
While being a longshot to compete for a sixth Masters title, Woods does have the opportunity to create history at this year’s tournament, where he could beat legendary figures Gary Player and Fred Couples for the most times to consecutively make the cut.
Woods has made the cut for the past 23 years that he has featured since he had in 1997, when he won his first Green Jacket. Despite playing just once on the tour this year, Woods recently stated that he believes he can play regularly throughout the rest of the year.
“Once a month seems reasonable. It gives me a couple of weeks to recover and a week to tune up. Maybe I can get into the rhythm. My ankle doesn’t hurt anymore – the bones aren’t rubbing anymore. But then again it’s different – other parts of my body have to take the brunt of it, just like my back is fused, and so other parts of my body have taken the brunt of that.”
