Tiger Woods confirms return to golf days before The Masters

Tiger Woods will return to action for the first time in nearly two years.

The 15-time major champion has not played since missing the cut at the 2024 Open Championship. 

He confirmed after exiting the major at the halfway stage he hoped to play more events last season but suffered two injury blows and did not tee up at all.

First, he ruptured his Achilles tendon in March whilst training at home and then, last October, underwent the seventh back surgery of his career. 

He has spent the last five months recovering and suggested he could participate in season two of TGL - the indoor golf league he co-founded with Rory McIlroy - but has been reduced to a non-playing role. 

However, he has given his fans renewed optimism that he could be fit for the first men's major of the year in a few weeks' time by confirming he will play in the final tonight against Los Angeles. 

Woods' Jupiter Links trail 1-0 in the best-of-three final following an agonising 6-5 defeat to LA's Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala and Tommy Fleetwood on Monday. 

Kevin Kisner, who burned the edge of the cup with a chip to win the match on the final hole, looks set to be replaced by Woods in the starting line up.

"As a team, we were together in this, all of us together, and it was close," Woods said after Monday's loss. 

"We had our opportunities; they had their opportunities. We could have flipped in the middle of that back nine, and it came down to the last hole.

"We were in a playoff once, and this was damn near there. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, but we have possibly two more matches. We're not out of this. Even with a loss we're still not out of it."

Woods did not comment on returning to action, but Jupiter Links' official X account took inspiration from Michael Jordan's iconic NBA return by stating simply: "He's back."

Will Tiger Woods play in The Masters?

Should Tiger Woods play in the 2026 Masters it would represent his 27th appearance at Augusta National. 

The five-time green jacket winner suggested last month that his appearance was not "off the table". 

But he refused to divulge too much information on his physical condition, explaining that he has gradually gone from chipping and putting to hitting full shots.

"I said I've been working on it," he said.  

"Sometimes I have good days, sometimes I have bad days. Disc replacement is not a lot of fun."

Woods has always claimed he hated the idea of being a ceremonial golfer and the reality is that he would head to Augusta with far from ideal preparation. 

Hitting golf balls into a simulator is a far cry from the hilly terrain of Augusta.

Woods is now eligible to play on the over-50s PGA Tour Champions but has missed deadlines to register for any of their tournaments ahead of The Masters. 

Competitors on the senior tour are allowed to use golf carts and tournaments are held over 54 holes without a cut. 

Woods suffered severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash.

"I've had a lot of procedures prior to that, so the body doesn't quite heal like it was when I was 24. Doesn't quite bounce back," added Woods.

"So I have good days when I can pretty much do anything, and other days where it's hard to just to move around."