Fourteen months after a car accident that almost took his life, Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta Ga, where he shot a one-under 71 after the first round of play.
The 15-time Major champion stirred up rumors of returning to action last week when reports of him playing a practice round at Augusta National, the home of the Masters Golf Tournament with Caddie Joey LaCava walking a full 18 holes to test if his injured right leg could handle and recover from walking the severe mounds of Augusta National.
“My recovery has been good so far and I’ve been very excited about how I’ve been able to recover each and every day and that’s been the challenge,” Woods said.
This Tuesday in a pre-tournament press conference that he felt as of right now he felt like he could give it a go.
“As of right now, I feel like I am going to play,” Woods said.
When asked if he believed he could win this week, Woods’ answer was short and simple.
“I do,” Woods said.
Woods teed off today at 10:34 a.m. on the first hole to a packed gallery surrounding the first tee to catch a glimpse of the five-time Masters Champion. As Woods has done so many times in his career with injury, not only did he come back, but he came back and competed. After going fifteen holes at even-par, Woods lined up a 25-foot putt on the famous 16th hole “Redbud” and poured it in the center of the cup to get into red digits at one-under-par where he would finish the day for a score of 71.
Woods currently sits in a tie for tenth place, only four shots behind tournament leader Im Sung-jae at five-under-par.
In a post-round interview, Woods said he was proud of his round and his team for getting him ready to play.
“My team has done an incredible job of getting me here,” Woods said. “I said to them, hey, just get me to this point and my adrenaline will kick in. I know how to play golf and how to play this golf course. I said let’s just get me to this point, and I’ll take it from there.”
Woods tees off in his second round at 1:41 p.m.
