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Tiger Woods Decides To Play In The Masters

Tiger Woods hasn’t played competitive golf in two months.

He’s playing next week.

“I’m playing in the Masters,” Woods announced on his website Friday afternoon. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there. I’ve worked a lot on my game and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s support.”

Prior to the Masters Woods will have not played on the PGA Tour for more than two months.

Tuesday, Woods played 18 holes at Augusta National to test out his game away from home. He played again Friday. A person with knowledge of Friday’s round said Woods was paired with Jeff Knox, who is the official marker for the Masters. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and told USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity.

Speculation of Woods’ return has swirled for weeks. He did not play in the Honda Classic or the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has won a record eight times — two of his regular stops before heading to Georgia.

The four-time Masters champion has not played since he withdrew due to back stiffness on the 12th hole in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego on Feb. 5. He has played just 47 holes this year – 36 when he missed the cut in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he shot a career-high 82 in the second round, and the 11 at Torrey Pines the following week.

His last victory at Augusta National was in 2005 but he did finish in fourth in 2013 and 2011.

Three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson, who is getting his game in shape for Augusta by firmly being in contention in the Shell Houston Open, isn’t surprised Woods is returning at the first major of the season.

“That’s a tough tournament to miss. The Masters is the tournament we dream of as a kid,” Mickelson said. “I just don’t think anybody would miss it if they were in it, if they were physically able to play. And he’s had such a good short game and such a great game throughout his career, I think it’s going to be an easy fix. I think his game will be sharp.”

Woods, who won five titles in 2013 but didn’t record a top-10 finish in nine starts worldwide in 2014, announced Feb. 11 that he would not return to the Tour until he felt he could play competitively against the best players in the world.

He spent his off time working out in his gym at home in Jupiter, Fla., and at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound with swing consultant Chris Como.

Woods holds the record of 683 weeks as the No. 1 player in the world but has fallen to No. 104, the first time he’s been outside of the top 100 since the week before he won his first Tour title in 1996.

Since the official world golf rankings made its debut the week before the 1986 Masters — where then No. 33-ranked Jack Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket — no player ranked outside of the top-100 has won at Augusta National.

He has not won since the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods, a winner of 14 major championships and 79 Tour titles missed last year’s Masters because of back surgery March 31. It was the first time he missed the first major of the year since he first played in 1995, when he tied for 41st as the low amateur. He hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.

In a conference call before Friday’s announcement, former Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger talked about Woods’ prospects next week in the Masters and beyond.

“I don’t think he’d show up unless he feels like he solved that (chopping) problem,” said Azinger, a 12-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 1991 PGA, who is now an ESPN analyst. “It’s not a difficult fix. You get the shaft to 90 (degrees) at impact and the bounce pays you a visit. He was leaned forward a little bit and getting the shaft ahead. I don’t think he had the yips. I think he just was in a terrible setup position to deliver the club.

“I don’t know, nobody knows what to expect, but I’m telling you, hopefully he’s focused on that, and he does have to get his reps in, and this is a tough first place to start.”

But Azinger is quick to add that no one really knows what will happen when the 79th Masters starts. Azinger spoke to what he has seen in the past year from Woods and would like to see him less technical. And as Azinger pointed out, few have seen Woods in nine weeks.

“Sadly, for whatever reason, Tiger sacrificed a winning swing at the altar of a perfect swing and he may have sacrificed a winning body at the altar of a perfect body, and it’s been hard to watch that undoing. But that’s what we’ve seen,” Azinger said. ” … All we see with Tiger is the tip of the iceberg. We don’t see the whole iceberg. We can only know what the state of his game was the last time we saw him. It’s impossible to know if he is continuing the path of over‑engineering or if he wants to be the best player again. The best player hits it pin‑high the most often and gets it up‑and‑down. The best player doesn’t fight a right miss and a duck hook.

” … And what we don’t know is what’s under the tip of the iceberg. How hard has he worked on being the best player, not the best swinger. That’s what we don’t know.”