As Tiger Woods decides whether to play next week’s Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, one of his competitors said it would be phenomenal to have the 15-time major champion in the field.
“I think for golf and for the Masters tournament and for everyone else it would be phenomenal to have Tiger there,” Rory McIlroy told reporters in San Antonio, where he is attending the Valero Texas Open this week. “I think it just adds to the event. Obviously it does. Anything Tiger Woods does in the game of golf is amplified when he’s there. I mean it would be great for him to be there.”
McIlroy, a four-time major champion, was at the Augusta National on Tuesday when Woods played 18 holes with his son Charlie and PGA Tour pro Justin Thomas, his close friend.
“He was there [on Tuesday]obviously, and he’s trying to see what he can do,” McIlroy said. “Obviously no one but him knows if he can do it and if he thinks he can match.”
Woods has not competed in an official PGA Tour event for 500 days since he last played in the finals of the 2020 Masters, which was held in November this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He tied 38th after shooting 4-over-76 in the last round.
Woods, a five-time Masters champion, is listed among the expected 91 entrants for next week’s Masters, the first major championship of the season. But he has yet to officially say if he will play. It’s the 25th anniversary of his first Masters win in 1997.
This wouldn’t be the first time Woods has attempted to return to Augusta National after a long layoff. After multiple knee and back surgeries, Woods won the 2019 Masters, his first major championship in 11 years.
If he can play next week that would be even more impressive. Woods sustained serious injuries to his right leg and right foot in a car accident on February 23, 2021. The SUV he was driving crossed two oncoming lanes, hit a curb and uprooted a tree on a downhill track in Rolling Hills Estates. just outside of Los Angeles. He was wearing his seat belt and officers found him still seated in the SUV.
Woods was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center by ambulance. He had open fractures in the upper and lower parts of the tibia and fibula in 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.
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“I’ve said that so many times, but as of March 2017, fast forward two years and he wins the Masters and where he was with his body and what he had to do to get himself reasonably healthy again,” McIlroy said. “And it’s not even something healthy, it’s also what he has to do before the round and after the round just to get ready to play golf.”
In December, Woods played with Charlie in the unofficial PNC championship. The 36-hole event was a scramble and he was allowed to use a golf cart, but he did some walking.
“The sheer will and perseverance, yes, it’s incredible,” McIlroy said. “When he comes back he likes to prove people wrong, he likes to prove himself wrong I think. No matter when he comes back — whether it’s next week or a few weeks, a few months later — he’s a wonderful addition to the game. And the golf game is better when he’s playing and when he’s playing well.”