Woods, 40, announced on Wednesday he hopes to return to competitive action at the Safeway Open in October, having not played since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 due to persistent back trouble. After backing out of both the Masters and the US Open this year, Tiger took to his website on September 7 to reveal that he may finally be ready to make his triumphant return to the course.
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The 40-year-old will first take on the role of U.S. vice-captain at Hazeltine, Minnesota for this month’s Ryder Cup, before joining the field at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California for the first tournament of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season.
Woods is set to play in the Safeway Open on October 13-16, travel to Turkey for the Turkish Airlines Open Nov. 3-6, and in his own tournament, the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas (Dec. 1-4).
“I’m looking forward to going to California for my foundation event and Safeway”, Woods said on his website.
“It could be a fun fall”, he added.
Woods has not played tournament golf since August a year ago, after which he underwent two back surgeries. “It’s good to see him back and healthy and it will be exciting to see him back on the course again”.
The Hero World Challenge is run by Woods’ foundation.
The announcement was a swift departure from the few public appearances this year in which Woods has said he planned to return but did not have a timetable.
“I think the hardest thing for him is just to try and get the rust out and really get back to game ready sharpness, which is obviously a difficult thing to do”, Day said at the BMW Championship Wednesday.
“I think this time he’s done it the right way by waiting and not coming back to soon”, the Australian world number one said.
Now at 79 PGA Tour victories, Woods last won on the circuit at the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
The victor of 14 major tournaments, Woods has been recovering from back surgery and missed all four majors for the first time in his pro career. “I’ve been a pro about 20 years, and their support has never waned”.
Phil Mickelson announced in June that he plans to play Safeway Open. I would love it.
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“There’s probably a lot of anticipation to see how the state of his game is”.
