Will Tiger Woods play the 2022 Masters? His competition sounds off on possible return
The roars have returned, albeit in a limited sample size.
Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods teed it up Monday at Augusta National for his second practice round in as many days alongside Justin Thomas and Fred Couples.
It remains to be seen whether Woods will play when first round play at the Masters begins Thursday, but his competitors lauded the thought of his potential return from injury.
“It’s exciting that there’s the possibility he’s going to play this week,” ex-Masters champ Adam Scott said. “I really hope he does. I think no matter what, it would just be epic.”
Woods has been noncommittal, at best, as to whether he will play in the Masters this year.
The 15-time major champion was severely injured in a car accident in February 2021. The crash left Woods with comminuted open fractures to the tibia and fibula in his right leg, or, both bones broken into at least three pieces and piercing the skin. He also suffered injuries to his foot and ankle.
“It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete,” Woods said in a Tweet on Sunday morning.
Monday, though, crowds invaded the front-nine at Augusta to catch a glimpse of the sport’s most transcendent talent of the last 25 years.
Making his 300-yard trek from the driving range to the first tee, a flood of fans washed down the walkways toward Augusta’s opening fairway to catch a glimpse of Woods. Both sides of the first hole were inundated with patrons when he clocked a driver to the middle of the fairway.
“Yeah, buddy!” a fan on the left side of the fairway shouted as Woods approached his second shot. “Welcome home.”
Heading toward the second tee, the threesome of Luke List, Zach Johnson and former Clemson star Lucas Glover whipped their drives down the ninth fairway. Behind them, Woods stepped onto the second tee box to a boisterous applause.
Johnson is a two-time major winner. Glover, too, took home the 2009 U.S. Open. But the group commanded little to no attention compared with the mass of bodies following Woods’ star-studded group through the early stages of their round.
“Very, very excited to have him back,” said Bryson DeChambeau, one of Woods’ closer friends on tour. “He creates a lot of hype and whatnot. And, shoot, from the driving range, we could hear the loud roar when he came out of the clubhouse up to that first tee, and that was pretty special to hear.”
Woods ranks among the greatest golfers of all-time, but he’s struggled with a slew of injuries and off the course issues over the last 15 years of his career.
He was involved in a single-car wreck in 2009 that led to reports accusing him of extramarital affairs. Woods eventually admitted to the misdeeds in a public apology shortly after the accident and took a leave of absence from golf that lasted from December 2009 until the 2010 Masters.
Woods was later plagued by Achilles and back injuries over the next handful of seasons. He underwent four surgeries on his back, including a spinal fusion in 2017. He capped off his full-recovery from that procedure with his triumphant win at the 2019 Masters.
That win at Augusta marked Woods’ first major championship since downing Rocco Mediate in a playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open.
“Any time anybody asks me, ‘Can Tiger contend?’ the answer is yes,” 2012 U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson said. “Just an amazing will inside of him, whether he’s hurt or sick or struggling with his golf swing or whatever it is. It’s really cool that he’s making this week the push to come back after that car wreck. I hope he tees it up Thursday.”
Woods has turned Augusta National into his own personal play-place over the years. His five Masters titles are the second-most all-time. His 12-shot win in 1997 still stands as the largest margin of victory in the event’s history. He’s also one of just three men to win back-to-back Masters crowns, doing so in 2001 and 2002.
Should he play this week, it’ll be his latest attempt in a quest to match Jack Nicklaus’ six wins at Augusta National.
“It seems likes he’s in a really great frame of mind and he wants to win,” DeChambeau said. “Obviously, he’s determined to win. He wants to come back here and win. He’s got a lot of players that have had a lot of time to kind of catch up, albeit Tiger is Tiger, and you can never count him out.”
Woods certainly can’t be counted out, yet. If he attempts to play in Thursday’s first round? Expect those roars to reach decibels only the former champ is capable of eliciting.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 6:13 PM.
