Four years and seven months ago, Tiger Woods shocked the world with what Jim Nantz called the “return to glory” winning the 2019 Masters Tournament at Augusta National. Golf fans worldwide were hopeful for a lengthy run of comeback wins throughout the season, but Woods’ body could not hold up. At the age of 43, the rest of Woods’ 2019 season was plagued with back and knee issues that prevented him from continuing to compete.
In April, Tiger withdrew from the 2023 Masters Tournament, the same place where he found a major win four years prior. On Sunday morning, it was announced that he would not finish the tournament after making the cut at three over par. The reason for this was later revealed to be plantar fasciitis in his right leg. The injury was not sustained during the tournament, but was rather a reaggravated issue related to his tragic car accident in February of 2021. Later in the same month, Woods underwent ankle fusion surgery in hopes of allowing him to return to competitive golf eventually.
Throughout the remainder of the 2023 Professional Golf Season, The Big Cat was seen on the golf course weekly but not in the way that many would have expected. He dedicated almost all of his time during the general recovery process to caddying for his son Charlie in elite level junior golf tournaments. With this, talks started to emerge about his health and ability to walk the course again: “The 47-year-old golf legend was seen over the weekend caddying for his son Charlie at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf Championship in Louisiana, walking with Charlie’s bag and without a noticeable limp” (Nov. 6 | People.com). However, as the PGA regular season closed out there had been no announcements regarding Tiger’s plans on entering the competitive world again.
Leading up to the Hero World Challenge this week (Nov. 30 – Dec. 3), it was announced on every platform imaginable that Woods will be teeing it up on Thursday for the first time since his Master’s withdrawal in April. He also made a public statement regarding his ability to play consistently: “Best scenario would be a tournament a month, I think that’s realistic.” He continued, saying that he is fully recovered from surgery and is currently feeling no chronic pain in his ankle. Looking towards the 2024 season, Woods said, “The biggest events (major championships) are one per month. It sets itself up for that. Now, I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is a big step in that direction.”
He is set to tee off at 9:52 A.M. MST in a twosome with Justin Thomas on Thursday (Nov. 30).
