*It’s official. Tiger Woods announced today that he’ll be playing in this year’s Masters tournament beginning April 9 in Augusta, Georgia.
It’s been two months since Woods announced he was taking a break a break from the sport. Back stiffness caused him to withdraw in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego on Feb. 5. The following week he missed the cut in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he shot a career-high 82 in the second round.
Woods, who won five titles in 2013 but didn’t record a top-10 finish in nine starts worldwide in 2014, announced Feb. 11 that he would not return to the Tour until he felt he could play competitively against the best players in the world.
He skipped the Honda Classic or the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has won a record eight times — two of his regular stops before heading to Georgia. He reportedly spent his off time working out in his gym at home in Jupiter, Fla., and at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound with swing consultant Chris Como.
But Last Tuesday, Woods had the golf world buzzing when he popped up at August National and played 18 holes to test out his game away from home. Apparently, he was pleased.
Woods, a winner of 14 major championships and 79 Tour titles, has won the Masters four times, his most recent coming in 2005. He missed last year’s Masters because of back surgery March 31. It was the first time he missed the first major of the year since he first played in 1995, when he tied for 41st as the low amateur. He hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.
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