Tiger Woods targeting majors after Riviera return

Fresh from an impressive return to the tour at the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods has admitted that he hopes to play in all four major championships this year.

The 15-time major-winner finished one-under-par at Riviera Country Club in his first PGA Tour start since The 150th Open last summer. It was the first time that he managed to complete all four rounds of a tournament since The Masters almost a year ago.

As this year’s trip to Augusta National looms large on the horizon, the 47-year-old revealed he is targeting playing in each of the game’s four marquee tournaments in 2023 – but said that he is unlikely to feature much beyond that.

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“Like I told you guys last year, I’m not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more,” said Woods. “That’s it, that’s all my body will allow me to do.

“My back the way it is, all the surgeries I had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can’t. That’s just going to be my future. My intent last year was to play in all four majors. I got three of the four. Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there.

“But that’s it for the rest of my career. I know that and I understand that. That’s just my reality.”

Woods, who stoked controversy during the opening round by handing Justin Thomas a tampon, added that it was a relief to be able to get all four rounds under his belt.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It’s progress, headed in the right direction, yes. It certainly was a little bit more difficult than I probably let on.

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“My team has been fantastic in getting my body recovered day to day and getting me ready to play each and every day.

“That’s the hard part that I can’t simulate at home. Even if I played four days at home, it’s not the same as adrenaline, it’s not the same as the system being ramped up like that, the intensity, just the focus that it takes to play at this level. I’m very good at simulating that at home, but it’s just not the same as being out here and doing it.”