Tiger Woods to make public address ahead of The Masters after long absence
Tiger Woods is scheduled to make a comeback at The Masters and he will address the media on Tuesday before the tournament begins on Thursday, April 11th.
Tiger Woods is scheduled to make his comeback at the Masters tournament next week, as he has been officially listed on the interview lineup at Augusta National.
The 15-time winner of major championships has not completed a PGA Tour competition in almost 14 months and has dropped to 950th in the world rankings.
However, the American legend, who is currently 48 years old, recently engaged in a practice round at Augusta National with his friend Justin Thomas.
Woods will now address the world’s media ahead of the event before he tees up in his 26th Masters with the aim of setting a new record of cuts made in Augusta. Last year he made the cut at Augusta for the 23rd consecutive time to tie the all-time record with Gary Player and Fred Couples before pulling out.
Woods will next week celebrate the fifth anniversary of his remarkable fifth Masters victory in 2019. But he is at his longest-ever odds to win at Augusta and equal Jack Nicklaus’ record of six wins because of his lack of preparation.
Woods has made limited appearances since his February 2021 car crash in Los Angeles which nearly caused his lower right leg to be amputated. He withdrew during the third round in Augusta last year with a foot problem in wet conditions and then pulled out after 24 holes at the Genesis Invitational in February because of flu.
His friend Notah Begay reported this week that Woods can hit a golf ball but struggles to walk because of his ankle.
“For the past couple months, he’s been trying to find a way to recover,” said Begay. “He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be ‘Can he walk the 72 (holes)?’ That’s still up in the air.
“But can he recover, from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”
Last month, he was engaged in discussions with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Newcastle chairman Yasser Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas, marking his final participation in the PGA Tour.
Andy North, a commentator for ESPN, expressed his belief that participating in the weekend would be beneficial, emphasizing it as a win-win situation. It is likely that the player participating in the tournament is motivated by the possibility of winning, despite the challenges he faces.
North also highlighted the immense difficulties the player faces in order to prepare and compete in golf tournaments on a daily basis.
Woods is scheduled to give a speech in the Masters press room at 11am EST on Tuesday. Defending champion Jon Rahm, top-ranked player Scottie Scheffler, and Rory McIlroy are also set to make appearances on that day before the first Major of the season commences on Thursday, April 11.
