Tiger is to miss the 2016 Masters

There will be no final-day Tiger red at Augusta this year

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 2 April 16

It was never really 'will he, won't he' but an announcement on his website on April 1 confirmed that Tiger is to miss the 2016 Masters

This is probably not really news to many golf fans, but a post on his website on April 1 (no April Fool’s wind-up, this one!) has confirmed that Tiger is to miss the 2016 Masters, and will not be teeing it up in a bid for a fifth Green Jacket this coming Thursday at Augusta National.

Despite video clips of him hitting a few balls on social media channels recently – albeit somewhat tentatively in the eyes of many – there was little word out there in the public domain to make anyone really believe that a return to the course was likely any time soon, least of all for the season’s opening Major.

"After assessing the present condition of my back, and consulting with my medical team, I've decided it's prudent to miss this year's Masters," Tiger confirmed on his website. "I've been hitting balls and training daily, but I'm not physically ready. I've said all along that this time I need to be cautious and do what's best for my long-term health and career.

"Unfortunately, playing Augusta next week wouldn't be the right decision. I'm absolutely making progress, and I'm really happy with how far I've come, but I still have no timetable to return to competitive golf.”

This will be just the second time Tiger has missed The Masters since making his debut as an amateur in 1995, but worryingly, both absences from golf’s curtain-raising Major have come in the last three years, with Tiger also sitting out the 2014 staging on doctors’ advice following back surgery.

Woods has not now played competitively since last August’s Wyndham Championship where he started brightly and went on to record his only Top 10 of the season, but going forwards the only golf etched in his diary with any certainty is September’s Ryder Cup at Hazeltine where he will join Davis Love’s vice-captaincy team.

Jeremy Ellwood

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly across the whole spectrum from courses and Rules to equipment and even instruction despite his own somewhat iffy swing (he knows how to do it, but just can't do it himself). He also edits The Golf Club Secretary Newsletter, has authored or co-authored three books and written for a number of national papers including The Telegraph and The Independent. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 89 of the Next 100. He has played well over 900 courses worldwide in 35 countries, but put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content. On his first trip to Abu Dhabi a decade ago he foolishly asked Paul Casey what sort of a record he had around the course there. "Well, I've won it twice if that's what you mean!" came the reply...

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf