The world has been on high alert for the past few days for Tiger Woods to announce if he will play the 2022 Masters at Augusta National. After rumors swirled for the past week that Woods had been spotted practicing at his medalist home ground in South Florida, he has now been spotted in Augusta, Georgia after catching a flight to the Masters venue.
Woods is reportedly in town with his son Charlie and friend Justin Thomas. According to Sports Illustrated, he will play Augusta National on Tuesday in preparation for the 86th edition of the tournament. This after it was reported that Woods’ caddy, Joe LaCava, joined him in Florida for the aforementioned rounds at Medalist.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the five-time Masters champion has officially decided to play the tournament, but it sure is a lot of smoke if there’s not also a fire, especially from someone who has those five green jackets in 23 appearances .
Woods has not competed in an official tournament since the 2020 Masters in November, which preceded another back surgery for him in early 2021 and his horrific car accident in late February 2021. He recently said his accident almost resulted in the loss of his right leg.
Tiger has insisted he is patient with his return to golf. Despite competing in the PNC Championship with Charlie in December 2021, he has refused to commit to a specific timeline for a return to the PGA Tour. He has instead insisted that any schedule he plays going forward will be limited.
When asked by Jim Nantz on CBS in February if he would be at the Masters, Woods only confirmed that he would be there for Tuesday’s Champions Dinner. And while it now seems like he could be there for much more than that, this potential re-entry is a break from what’s expected of Woods.
The 15-time Major winner has always insisted he only plays golf tournaments to win them, but he’s also admitted it took him months and months of build-up before he was ready to win the 2019 Masters. He needs to know he has no realistic chance of winning this year’s Masters, which would suggest he’s there for the celebrations rather than donning a green jacket.
Of course, that needs to be celebrated because a tournament with Tiger Woods present is always better than one without him, but it’s certainly different than what we expect from Woods.
In 23 Masters appearances, Tiger has five wins and a staggering 14 top 10 finishes.