Tiger Woods announces comeback date

Good news, Tiger fans.

The 15-time major winner has announced that he will be returning to the PGA Tour at next week’s Memorial Tournament. 

Woods, a five-time winner of the event, will make his first start on the PGA Tour since the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in middle of February, where he finished 68th.

A back injury caused him to missed several events he was expected to contest, including the PLAYERS Championship in March, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the season into an abrupt and unexpected lockdown. 

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The 43-year-old has not featured in any of the five PGA Tour events since that hiatus ended last month, although he did take part in a made-for-TV charity matchplay event with Phil Mickelson, as well as NFL superstars Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, in May. The former world No.1 appeared to show no ill effects from injury as he and Manning took down the Mickelson-Brady partnership. 

In a tweet posted this afternoon, Woods confirmed his decision to play at Muirfield Village next week:

Woods won the tournament for the first time in 1999, holding off Vijay Singh to claim his ninth PGA Tour title. He subsequently won it in 2000, 2001, 2009 and, most recently, in 2012. 

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Tiger is only one win away from breaking Sam Snead’s long-standing record of 82 PGA Tour victories, a mark he equalled with his win in the ZOZO Championship late last year. 

Having started the year in sixth place on the Official World Golf Ranking, his inactivity over the past several months has caused him to slip to 14th. He is currently 41st on the FedEx Cup standings.