Rumours Ramp Up On Tiger Woods Masters Return

On Sunday evening, the golfing world was put on an alert by a tweet which read: "Have heard from multiple people in South Florida that Tiger Woods has been out walking Medalist multiple times this week. Joey (his caddie) was also in town to walk."

The tweet, which was posted by The Fried Egg, wasn't the only Tiger related news either, with Dan Rapaport, of Golf Digest, tweeting that there is “non crazy” talk about him playing The Masters, whilst Ewan Murray of Sky Sports, stated on commentary of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play that he suspects, "with strong suspicion" that Tiger will tee it up soon.

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What's more, if you look at the field for the 2022 Masters, which begins in only a matter of weeks at Augusta National, Tiger's name is still appearing on the official list of players. However, the 46-year-old has extensively stated that he still has a long way to go before returning to competitive golf. 

One positive though, is that Woods has mentioned he will be in Augusta for the event next month and will be present at the Champions' Dinner on the Tuesday of Masters week. He has also not ruled out the possibility of playing Wednesday’s Par-3 contest.

Speaking at the Genesis Invitational, which he hosted but didn’t play last month, Woods said: “It’s the competitive nature, how much that takes out of you mentally, physically, emotionally. I haven’t prepared for any of that. Going for a walk, I can do that. Am I going to be sore? Hell, yeah, but I can do that. Whether I do that or not, I don’t know.”

Tiger also added, “I can still play, but I’m in a cart. Being a weekend warrior is easy, that’s not that hard. Hit your ball, hop in a cart, ride, barely step out of the cart, grab your club and hit the next one. And the longest walk you have is probably from, what, the cart to the green and back. I can do that, that’s not that hard, but walking a golf course, that’s a totally different deal. I’ve got a long way to go.”

Although it is uncertain when Tiger will return, it is clear that he is making extremely good progress. At the 2021 PNC Championship, his game was clearly there for all to see, with the 46-year-old finishing second alongside his son, Charlie. However, the 15-time Major champion was using a golf cart, with Tiger stating in February that: "I can play weekend warrior golf, that’s easy. 

"But to be able to be out here and play, call it six rounds of golf, a practice round, pro-am, four competitive days, it’s the cumulative effect of all that. I’m not able to do that yet. I’m still working on getting to that point.”

With the news that Tiger was reportedly walking around Medalist alongside his caddie, Joe LaCava, TWSpot on Instagram also posted that "Tiger has been testing his body and game and an announcement with his decision could come very late." As the Masters starts on Thursday 7th April, let's hope that we see the five-time winner teeing it up at Augusta National.