Tiger Woods continues Masters prep with Monday practice round

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods played another practice round at Augusta National on Monday, but we may have to wait another day for an official announcement. Woods who tweeted Sunday that a potential Masters appearance will be a ‘game-time decision,’ is scheduled to hold his pre-tournament press conference at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday. RELATED: When Tiger set doubters straight at 1997 Masters | Witnesses to history at 1997 Masters It’s looking increasingly likely that he will play, however. His fellow competitors weren’t just asked Monday if they thought he would tee it up Thursday. They were asked to consider whether he could be competitive. Max Homa didn’t pause to ponder his answer. “Yeah,” said Homa, who grew up idolizing Woods and won his tournament, The Genesis Invitational, in 2021. “It’s Tiger Woods. “I’d be surprised if it was anyone else that’s ever lived. So, no, I’m not surprised (that he’s considering playing). I am amazed. It is a true testament to his work ethic because we all know what he does on the golf course, how hard he works, and the stories and the legend.” Woods hasn’t competed in an official tournament since his single-car accident in February 2021, but he continues to prepare for this year’s Masters like someone who’s planning to play. He played the first nine Monday, a day after taking a quiet tour of the second nine in the late afternoon. A report on Masters.com said Woods missed just one fairway in Sunday’s practice round and made a handful of birdies. More importantly, Jim McCabe wrote on the tournament website that the round “never looked laborious.” Woods was described as a “competitive golfer in deep study, not one searching for answers.” This year marks the 25th anniversary of Woods’ first Masters win, a 12-shot route where he also set the tournament scoring record. He has won four more since, most recently in 2019, and is now the same age as Jack Nicklaus (46) when Nicklaus won his sixth Green Jacket. Nicklaus famously was inspired that week by a newspaper story claiming that his best days were behind him. Woods wasn’t even supposed to be in this year’s field. The conventional wisdom was that April was still too soon and Augusta National too hilly for Woods to play. Billy Horschel, who watched Woods hit balls Sunday, said Woods looked similar to the player who won here three years ago. “He looked like Tiger to me,” Horschel said. “It didn’t look like there was any loss of speed. He could still hit it high, hit shots, work it both ways.” Cameron Davis, winner of last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, played a few holes with Woods Sunday and said Woods was “a little slow” walking up some of the second nine’s steeper hills but also echoed the praise of Woods’ form. “He’s hitting it far enough to play the holes the way you need to play them,” Davis said. “I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be able to put rounds together out here.”

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