Tiger Woods says Masters will be ‘game-time decision’

We’ll have to wait and see if Tiger Woods is playing in this year’s Masters after the five-time champion tweeted Sunday that his appearance will be a “game-time decision.” “I will be heading up to Augusta today to continue my preparation and practice. It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete,” he wrote. Woods also congratulated Anna Davis, 16, on her win Saturday in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Unlike weekly PGA TOUR events, there is no commitment deadline for the Masters. There are no alternates, either, so no player is waiting to fill Woods’ spot if he cannot compete. Only one more spot in the field remains, for the winner of the Valero Texas Open on Sunday. Anticipation around Woods’ potential appearance at Augusta National started ramping up after videos were posted on social media of him walking his home course, Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, with his caddie, Joe LaCava. Woods played practice rounds at Augusta National earlier this week after his plane was tracked flying to Augusta. “He’s trying to see what he can do,” Rory McIlroy said from the Valero Texas Open. “Obviously no one knows but him if he can make it around and if he believes he can compete.” Woods said at his Genesis Invitational in February that he did not know when he would return to competitive golf. Some theorized that his comeback would begin this summer on the relatively flat links of St. Andrews, where Woods has twice won The Open. The Masters seemed too soon and Augusta National’s terrain too hilly for Woods as he continues to recover from the single-car accident in February 2021 that nearly resulted in the amputation of his right leg. “We didn’t know if he was going to make it through (the accident), and to be in this position where people are talking about, ‘This guy might actually play in the Masters,’ I think it’s amazing,” two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North, who will call the Masters for ESPN, said earlier this week on a conference call. “ CBS’ Jim Nantz visited Woods in Florida last month for a documentary on his historic 1997 Masters win, but received no hints that Woods may play this year. Nantz said Woods’ appearance would be “astonishing” and a fitting addition to the first Masters at full capacity since Woods’ 2019 win. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Woods’ first Masters win, a 12-shot rout where he also set the tournament’s scoring record. CBS will mark that anniversary before the final-round broadcast of this year’s Masters with a documentary titled, “A Win for the Ages.” The show will feature Woods discussing his relationship with his father, as well as pioneers Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford, and his recollections of the win. North called Augusta National “the last place you would’ve thought he could possibly play.” That seemed true after Woods’ press conference from Riviera in February, where he expressed frustration at the pace of his comeback. Woods played golf publicly for the first time at the PNC Championship in December, where he and son Charlie finished second to John Daly and his son, John II. Woods was able to ride a cart and did not need to hit every shot in that tournament’s scramble format, however. The Masters would require Woods to walk multiple rounds on one of the most physically demanding courses players see all year. ESPN’s Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion, called Augusta National “the hardest walk in golf.” Woods said in February that “the walking part is something I’m still working on, working on strength and development in that. “It takes time,” he added. “What’s frustrating is it’s not at my timetable. I want to be at a certain place, but I’m not. I’ve just got to continue working. I’m getting better, yes, but as I said, not at the speed and rate that I would like. You add in the age factor, too. You just don’t quite heal as fast, which is frustrating.” Whether Woods is ready to return at Augusta National remains to be seen.

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