Tiger Woods trains at Augusta National, ‘game time decision’ on playing the Masters

Augusta, Georgia – tiger wood He says it will be a “game time decision” on whether to compete in the Masters 86, which is set to begin Thursday.

Woods, 46, provided the update in a tweet on Sunday, writing that he will be returning to Augusta National Golf Club to “continue my preparations and practice.” Sources had told ESPN that Woods played an 18-hole practice round at Augusta National on Tuesday.

I will be heading to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice. It will be a match time decision on whether to compete. Congratulations to 16-year-old Anna Davis on an amazing win at Tweet embed We wish you the best of luck for all the kids Tweet embed.

– Tiger Woods (@Tiger Woods) 3 April 2022

Woods also congratulated Anna Davis, the teen who won the Augusta National Amateur Women’s Award on Saturday.

The five-time Masters champion has not played in more than a year after sustaining a severe injury in a car wreck outside Los Angeles that nearly amputated his right leg. He last participated in the final round of the 2020 Masters Tournament, which took place in November of that year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Woods’ return to competitive golf will come on the 25th anniversary of his first Masters win in 1997, when he won by scoring 12 shots while setting a tournament record 18 under 270 over four rounds.

The Masters do not have a set deadline to commit to or withdraw from the tournament, giving Woods his Thursday kickoff time to make a final decision.

It wouldn’t be the first time Woods had returned to professional golf at Augusta National after a long hiatus. After undergoing multiple knee and back surgeries, Woods won the 2019 Masters in his first major in 11 years.

Woods’ five Masters victories ranked him second in history; Jack Nicklaus won the green jacket six times between 1963 and 1986. Woods’ 15th major was also ranked second after Nicklaus’ 18.

“I think for golf, for the Masters, and for everyone else, having the tiger would be extraordinary,” he said. Rory McIlroy He told reporters in San Antonio earlier this week at the Valero Texas Open. “I think it just adds to the action. It obviously does. Anything Tiger Woods does in golf is enhanced whenever he’s there. I mean, it would be nice to be there.”

Woods played a practice round at the Augusta National on Tuesday with his son Charlie, a PGA Tour player and best friend. Justin Thomas.

Playing at Augusta National is one of the toughest walks of professional golf because of its length, hills, and slopes. After that round, a source told ESPN that Woods “really, really wants to play” in the Masters.

There’s severe weather in the Augusta forecast on Tuesday and Wednesday, so Woods and the other players will likely try to join in on their Sunday and Monday training sessions.

Woods has been working on restoring strength in his right leg and right foot for over a year. He was seriously injured in the wreckage of the February 23, 2021 coup. The SUV he was driving crossed two oncoming lanes, crashed into a sidewalk and uprooted a tree along a slope in Rolling Hills Estates, just outside Los Angeles. He was wearing a seat belt, and officers found him still sitting in the SUV.

He was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center by ambulance with open fractures of the upper and lower tibia and fibula of his right leg. He told reporters at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in late November that doctors almost had to amputate his right leg.

It has been changed,” Woods said during a press conference prior to the Genesis invitation in February. “My right leg doesn’t look like my left leg, let’s put it that way.”

Less than two months ago, Woods said he was disappointed with the speed of his recovery.

“I hope to let you know when I play again,” Woods said. “I want to know, but I don’t. My golf has been very limited. I can hit and hit really well and short balls really well, but I haven’t really done any long things seriously. I’m still working.

“I’m still working on the walking part. My feet were a little off there for about a year so the walking part is something I’m still working on, working on strength and development on that. It takes time. The frustrating thing is that it’s not in my schedule. I want to I’m in a certain place, but I’m not. I just have to keep working. I’m getting better, yeah. But like I said, not as fast and value what I want. I added the age factor too. You don’t fully heal so quickly, which is frustrating.”

During the press conference in February, Woods said he was focused on chopping, pressing and hitting with short irons but wasn’t able to do much with the driver because his right leg wasn’t strong enough.

A deleted video emerged about a week ago of Woods walking a tour at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Woods has been in severe pain before. At the 2008 US Open in Tory Pines, he won his 14th championship title by defeating Rocco Medet to a sudden death after an 18-hole playoff. Woods later revealed that he had played the entire week with two strains in his tibia and a ruptured ACL in his left knee. He struggled with injuries through lunges very early in his post-masters 2008 arthroscopic knee surgery.

He underwent knee surgery just over a week after the US Open and missed the rest of the season.