TIGER WOODS has ended speculation about his future announcing he intends to play in the 2016/2017 season opening US PGA Tour event in October.
Woods will be returning after multiple back surgeries and more than a year out of the game.
Whilst the 40 year old 14 time major winner has made a number of “comebacks” in recent years, many, including Australia’s Jason Day, believe he may have got in right this time by not trying to rush back too soon.
“….this time I think he’s done it the right way by waiting and not coming back too soon,” Days said ahead of the BMW Championship this week.
“There’s been a couple of times where I feel like he may have come back too soon and kind of injured himself a little bit more and that’s what’s kept him out of the game so long.”
Woods announced on his website that he’s setting his sights on playing three tour events in the fall, the Safeway Open (October 13-16), the Turkish Airlines Open (November 3-6) and the Hero World Challenge (December 1-4). He is also planning on playing his own event, the Tiger Woods Invitational, scheduled for October 10-11.
“My rehabilitation is to the point where I’m comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do,” Woods said. “Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go.”
“It could be a fun fall,” Woods added. “It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn’t rush it.”
Many golf fans will be watching the latest comeback with interest.
“It’s great,” Day said. “… There’s probably a lot of anticipation to see how the state of his game is and I’m definitely looking forward to watching those tournaments and seeing how his body holds up and how the mental side and obviously the golf side of things hold up as well.”