Tiger Woods Confident He Can Compete at the Highest Level Ahead of Masters Tournament
Tiger Woods is making his highly anticipated return to the PGA Tour this week in the Genesis Invitational, but the 15-time major champion’s eyes are already set on the Masters Tournament in April. With Scottie Scheffler reclaiming the world number one spot and Jon Rahm winning his fifth tournament in his last nine starts, the competition will be tougher than ever.
Woods is still working his way back to full fitness, but he is confident he will be able to compete at the highest level. He said: “My game is fine. Yeah, it is rusty. I made some silly mistakes here and there, and I didn’t quite pick up the speed of the greens each and every day fast enough, like I normally would if I was playing.”
The four-time Masters champion admitted that he does not know how he will react to meeting the LIV Golf players at the Masters, as he acknowledged the difficulties of the situation.[0] He said: “I don’t know, I don’t know what that reaction’s going to be. I know that some of our friendships have certainly taken a different path, but we’ll see when all that transpires. That is still a couple months away.”[1]
Woods also discussed his schedule going forward, acknowledging that his body and leg still limit him in terms of the amount of tournaments he can play. He said: “My body and my leg and my back just won’t allow me to play much more than that anymore. So that was my goal last year and I was able to play three of the four, and this year, I can hopefully play all four. That is going to be my schedule going forward because of all of the limitations I have.”[2]
With the Masters just a few months away, golf fans the world over are eagerly awaiting Tiger Woods’ return to competitive golf. The 15-time major winner is confident he can produce the goods, but only time will tell if he can recapture the magic of his past.
0. “‘Rusty' Tiger Woods teases LIV Golf Masters showdown on eve of latest comeback” Golfmagic.com, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.golfmagic.com/pga-tour/rusty-tiger-woods-teases-liv-golf-masters-showdown-eve-latest-comeback
1. “Amid LIV tensions, Tiger Woods isn't sure how Masters Champions Dinner will play out, but they ‘need to honor Scottie'” GolfDigest.com, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.golfdigest.com/story/tiger-woods-masters-champions-dinner-liv-golf-phil-mickelson-fred-couples-rory-mcilroy
2. “Tiger Woods admits return to top-level golf ‘more difficult' than he let on” Golf365, 20 Feb. 2023, https://www.golf365.com/pga-tour/tiger-woods-admits-return-to-top-level-golf-more-difficult-than-he-let-on/
