Tiger Woods Says He Will Play, And Play To Win, in the Masters

Updated Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 1:46 p.m.

That didn’t take long.

After keeping up a charade about whether or not he’d play the 86th Masters tournament for about a day, Tiger Woods confirmed on Tuesday that he was officially in the competition. Not only that, but he thinks he can win.

From CNN

“I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint,” he said Tuesday at a news conference on the 25th anniversary of his historic victory at the 1997 Masters, responding to a question about whether he can win the tournament.

The 15-time major champion has been away from competitive golf for over a year, having suffered serious leg injuries in a car crash in February 2021.

“As of right now, I feel like I am going to play,” Woods said, ending weeks of speculation. “As of right now.”

Woods showed up at Augusta National Golf Club over the weekend and took some practice rounds in the days leading up to the Masters, fueling speculation about whether he would actually compete. This year’s Masters represent the 25th anniversary of the first time Woods won the tournament in 1997, at a time when when he was golf’s ascendant, 21-year-old prodigy.

Now 46, Woods is three tournaments shy of tying Jack Nicklaus’ all-time records for majors wins (18). His pursuit of a green jacket this weekend is the latest attempt at a comeback in a career that in recent years was derailed by spectacle and injury.

Woods has had numerous health-related setbacks as he tried to resume winning on the golf course in recent years. All those efforts appeared to come to a halt last February when he was seriously injured in a rollover car crash in California, where he was participating in the Genesis Invitational tournament. Woods later revealed that his injuries were so serious that doctors considered amputation of one of his legs.

Last November, he told Golf Digest that his career as a full-time player on the PGA tour was over. A month later, he played in a tournament with his son, Charlie, and last month, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Given his reputation as notoriously competitive, it was likely that the recent attention may have lured him back onto the course. Now that he’s confirmed that he’ll play, the Masters will almost certainly see a bump in the ratings.