Tiger Woods to begin comeback at Masters
-
Tiger Woods announced his return to golf.
Share with others:
More than any other golf tournament, the Masters has a way of warming the spirit and tantalizing the soul.
It is the first major of the season on the PGA Tour, a tournament steeped in Southern charm and tradition, a place where the ghosts of Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer can be felt walking the emerald-green fairways and generating spine-tingling roars that reverberate through the hills and valleys of the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
Since 1997, no modern-day player has stirred the echoes or bloomed as brilliant as the azaleas in Amen Corner than Tiger Woods. With four green jackets in 14 years as a professional and 82 worldwide victories, Mr. Woods, 34, arrives each spring at Augusta National amid tremendous expectation and boundless anticipation -- a professional dynamic that begins the moment he turns off Washington Road and makes the drive down Magnolia Lane.
But it will be nothing like this year.
After a bizarre four months that began with an early-morning car accident and culminated with a televised admission of marital infidelities, Mr. Woods said on Tuesday that he will make his return to competitive golf next month at the Masters -- an event that will threaten to turn the stately shrine of golf into a media circus and likely send television ratings soaring to record levels.
"The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect," Mr. Woods said in a statement, announcing his return. "After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta. The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it's been a while since I last played."
It was rumored that Mr. Woods, who hasn't played in a competitive event since he won the Australian Masters in November, might play Monday in the Tavistock Cup, an unofficial event between PGA Tour players from two Orlando, Fla., golf communities -- Isleworth and Lake Nona. Mr. Woods lives in Isleworth.
Also, some thought he might return to the Arnold Palmer Invitational March 25-28 at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando and use that event as a tuneup for the Masters. But Mr. Woods decided to skip each tournament, even phoning Mr. Palmer to tell him so, and make his much-anticipated return at the Masters, which begins April 8.
First Published March 17, 2010 12:00 am
