After weeks of will-he-or-won’t-he speculation, Tiger Woods announced Friday he will play the Masters next week.
“I’m playing in the Masters,” Woods said in a statement posted on his website. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there. I’ve worked a lot on my game and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s support.”
Woods all but confirmed he would be playing next week when he showed up Friday at Augusta National to play a practice round. It was his second trip to Augusta in four days. He played 18 holes on Tuesday.
The bottom line was this: Had Woods decided not to play the Masters after having taken the last two months off from competitive golf to get his ailing game right and after having made two trips to Augusta National this week for practice rounds, it would have been a damning indictment of the state of his game and his mind.
Now the eyes of the golf world will be on Woods the first time he faces a tight-lie chip at Augusta after having looked like an amateur around the greens in his two previous tournaments this year.
When we last saw Woods he was limping to his courtesy car on Feb. 5 at Torrey Pines after having withdrawn on the 12th hole of his opening round with back stiffness.
That followed a missed cut at the Phoenix Open, where he struggled mightily with his short game, skulling and chunking chip shots like a 20 handicap.
Woods announced a week later he was taking an indefinite break from golf to work on his game and would not return until he felt it was tournament-ready. He skipped several events he usually plays: the Honda Classic, Doral and Bay Hill, where he’s won eight times.
“My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf,” Woods said when he took his leave. “I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.”
Because of injuries and poor form, Woods has only played in 10 tournaments since the start of 2014, completing three and finishing better than 69th only once.
Webb Simpson, who said he watched Woods practice on Tuesday, told 120 Sports: “He looked like he was going pretty full. Hearing what I’ve heard about how much he’s been playing in Florida, I think he’s hungry for it, and he’s ready to get back.”
Simpson said he believes Woods has known his plans were for next week all along.
“I don’t care what he says, he loves the suspense,” Simpson had said. “If he’s coming, he knows he’s coming already. He loves keeping everyone on the edge of their seat.”
Woods missed the Masters in 2014 for the first time in 20 years after undergoing back surgery the week before the tournament. He last won the Masters in 2005, and has finished outside of the top six at Augusta only once in his past nine starts.
Woods is 15-over par in the 47 competitive holes he’s played in 2015. That included a career-worst 82 in the second round in Phoenix, where he missed 18 greens in two days and displayed that stunning amateur-level short game.
His world ranking has plummeted to 104th, the first time he’s been outside the top 100 since before he won the first of his 79 PGA Tour victories at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational.
Woods’ layoff since his withdrawal from Torrey Pines will be his longest before a major since 2010, when he finished tied for fourth at the Masters after returning from a five-month sabbatical that followed his infidelity scandal.