“As of right now, I feel like I am going to play, as of right now,” Woods said during a news conference Tuesday. “I’m going to play nine more holes [Wednesday]. My recovery has been good. I’ve been very excited about how I’ve recovered each and every day, and that’s been the challenge.”

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He put emphasis the second time he said, “as of right now,” alluding to his earlier declaration that his status for the 86th Masters will be a game-time decision.

“I’m going to play nine more holes tomorrow. My recovery has been good. I’ve been very excited about how I’ve recovered each and every day, and that’s been the challenge,” Woods said. “How am I going to get all the swelling out and recover for the next day?

“I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint,” he said Tuesday at a news conference on the 25th anniversary of his historic victory at the 1997 Masters, responding to a question about whether he can win the tournament.
“I’ve worked hard. My team has been unbelievable. I’ve been lucky to have had great surgeons and great PTs and physios that have worked on me virtually every day. And we’ve worked hard to get to this point … It’s been a tough, tough year,” said Woods, who had multiple surgeries to his right leg after the crash.

“I do,” Woods answered when asked if he could win his sixth green jacket this week. “I can hit it just fine. I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s now walking is the hard part.

“This is normally not an easy walk to begin with. Now given the conditions that my leg is in, it gets even more difficult. You know, 72 holes is a long road, and it’s going to be a tough challenge and a challenge that I’m up for.”

Woods is grouped for the first two rounds with South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann of Chile. They’re scheduled to tee off the second round at 1:41 p.m. ET on Friday.
His dramatic return comes 25 years after the 1997 Masters, the first of his 15 major championships. Woods was only 21 when he transformed the game — and his life — by becoming the first nonwhite golfer to win the sports most storied tournament.
Woods said it is “hard to believe it’s been 25 years.”
“It’s great to be back and be able to feel the energy and the excitement of the patrons again.”
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@TigerWoods

Eldrick Tont “Tiger” Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men’s major championships, and holds numerous golf records.[4] Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and one of the most famous athletes in modern history. He is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Following an outstanding junior, college, and amateur golf career, Woods turned professional in 1996 at the age of 20. By the end of April 1997, he won three PGA Tour events in addition to his first major, the 1997 Masters, which he won by 12 strokes in a record-breaking performance. He reached number one in the world rankings for the first time in June 1997, less than a year after turning pro. Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, Woods was the dominant force in golf. He was the top-ranked golfer in the world from August 1999 to September 2004 (264 consecutive weeks) and again from June 2005 to October 2010 (281 consecutive weeks). During this time, he won 13 of golf’s major championships.

On his return to regular competition, Woods made steady progress to the top of the game, winning his first tournament in five years at the Tour Championship in September 2018 and his first major in 11 years at the 2019 Masters.

Woods has held numerous golf records. He has been the number one player in the world for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer in history. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record 11 times and has won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times. Woods has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons. He has won 15 professional major golf championships (trailing only Jack Nicklaus, who leads with 18) and 82 PGA Tour events (tied for first all time with Sam Snead). Woods leads all active golfers in career major wins and career PGA Tour wins. Woods is the fifth (after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus) player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest to do so. He is also the second golfer (after Nicklaus) to achieve a career Grand Slam three times.

Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships. He was also part of the American winning team for the 1999 Ryder Cup. In May 2019, Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump, the fourth golfer to receive the honor.

On February 23, 2021, Woods was hospitalized in serious but stable condition after a single-car collision and underwent emergency surgery to repair compound fractures sustained in each leg in addition to a shattered ankle.[15] In an interview with Golf Digest in November 2021, Woods indicated that his full-time career as a professional golfer was over, although he would continue to play “a few events per year”.

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods in May 2019.jpg
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Woods at the White House in May 2019
Personal information
Full name Eldrick Tont Woods
Nickname Tiger
Born December 30, 1975 (age 46)
Cypress, California
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)[1]
Sporting nationality
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United States
Residence Jupiter Island, Florida
Spouse

(m. 2004; div. 2010)

Children 2
Career
College Stanford University
(two years)
Turned professional 1996
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1996)
Professional wins 109[a]
Highest ranking 1 (June 15, 1997)[2]
(683 weeks)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 82 (Tied 1st all time)
European Tour 41 (3rd all time)[b]
Japan Golf Tour 3
Asian Tour 2
PGA Tour of Australasia 3
Other 16
Best results in major championships
(wins: 15)
Masters Tournament Won: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019
PGA Championship Won: 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007
U.S. Open Won: 2000, 2002, 2008
The Open Championship Won: 2000, 2005, 2006
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2021 (member page)
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year
1996
PGA Player of the Year 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013
PGA Tour
Player of the Year
1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013
PGA Tour
leading money winner
1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013
Vardon Trophy 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013
Byron Nelson Award 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
FedEx Cup Champion 2007, 2009
Presidential Medal of Freedom 2019