Tiger Woods Will Compete at Augusta, Hopefully Won’t Embarrass Himself

Image courtesy of Zimbio

Ending weeks of speculation, on Friday Tiger Woods announced via a message on his official website he would compete at the Masters next week.

“I’m playing in the Masters,” Tiger said Friday afternoon. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there.”

“I’ve worked a lot on my game and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s support.”

Though he’s been playing practice rounds of late, Woods hasn’t competed since withdrawing from Torrey Pines on Feb. 5. His decision to pull out of the tournament in the first round came one tee shot after a particularly ugly double bogey.

Woods cited tightness in his lower back, adding that his “glutes didn’t activate” because of the cool, foggy weather, which resulted in a delay. The sudden exit didn’t come as much of a surprise, as Woods’ various ailments acting up when his game is struggling has become a pattern.

Coming off the worst year of his professional career in 2014, Woods recently dropped out of the top 100 players in the Official World Golf Rankings. He is currently ranked 104^th, the first time he’s been out of the top 100 since Sept. 1996—the year he turned pro.

So far 2015 hasn’t been much kinder to the once great golfer. To date he has completed just 47 holes in two tournaments, one being Torrey Pines. The other was the Phoenix Open, where Woods missed the cut by nine shots, shooting a career-worst 82.

Announcing his decision to take some time off to focus on his health, Woods said, “I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I’m ready, I’ll be back.” Let’s hope he’s truly ready, because the spotlight is going to be blinding and tracking his every move, and the pressure intense.

The good news for Woods is that Augusta National is a course that has been good to him throughout his career—he’s won the coveted green jacket four times. Although it’s been 10 years since his last victory there, he’s generally placed well in recent years, despite his struggles.

In fact, the Masters is the only major tournament in which Woods has never once missed the cut. Unfortunately, all of the firsts he’s experienced lately have been bad…or very bad. We’ll see if he can finally break that pattern.

The first round of play at Augusta begins next Thursday.

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