Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods, who is trying to recover from serious leg and foot injuries he sustained in a car accident about 14 months ago, played 18 holes at Augusta National Golf Club on Tuesday, sources told ESPN.
Woods, 46, played all 18 holes with his son Charlie and PGA Tour pro Justin Thomas, his close friend, sources said.
“He’s played every one of them,” a source told ESPN. “He looked good to me.”
Woods and his team arrived at Augusta Regional Airport on Tuesday morning in his Gulfstream private jet and took to social media to fuel anticipation that he is gearing up to play at the Masters. Augusta National is considered one of the most difficult hikes in competitive golf due to its many hills and length.
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A since-deleted video surfaced last weekend of Woods playing at Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla.
Woods is among the expected 91 entrants into next week’s Masters, the first major championship of the season. But he has yet to officially say if he will play.
Woods, a 15-time major champion, has not competed in a regular PGA Tour event since the 2020 Masters was held in November this year due to COVID-19.
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.
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.
“It’s changed,” Woods said. “My right leg doesn’t look like my left leg, let’s put it that way.”
At a press conference ahead of the Genesis in mid-February, Woods said his comeback focused primarily on chipping, putting and short irons. He said he didn’t play long irons and fairway woods much because it was too taxing on his surgically repaired right leg.
“I wish I could tell you when I’ll be playing again,” Woods said on Feb. 16. “I want to know, but I don’t know. My golf activity was very limited. I’m really good at chipping and putting and hitting short irons really well, but I haven’t done long stuff seriously, I’m still working.
“I’m still working on the running part. My foot was a little messed up there about a year ago, so I’m still working on the running part, working on strength and development in it. It takes time. The frustrating thing is that it’s not on my schedule. I want to be in a certain place, but I’m not. I just have to keep working. I’m getting better yeah But as I said, not at the speed and rate that I would like. They also add the age factor. They just don’t heal as quickly, which is frustrating.
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.