The 15-time great champion has been away from competitive golf for more than a year, having suffered serious leg injuries in a car accident in February 2021. “From now on, I feel like I’ll play,” Woods said, ending weeks of speculation. “From now on”. Woods, 46, was spotted playing a few training rounds at Augusta National, including one on Monday, which fueled rumors of a comeback. “I have worked hard,” Woods said. “My team was incredible. I was lucky to have great surgeons and excellent PTs and physiotherapists who worked with me almost every day. And we worked hard to get to this point … It was a difficult, difficult year.” Woods teamed up with Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Joaquin Niemann of Chile. The second round is scheduled to start at 1:41 p.m. ET on Friday. His dramatic comeback comes 25 years after the 1997 Masters, the first of his 15 championships. Woods was just 21 years old when he changed the game – and his life – to become the first non-white golfer to win the tournament with the longest history. Woods said it was “difficult to believe that 25 years have passed”. “It’s great to be back and feel the energy and excitement of the crowd again.” “Very, very grateful,” Woods said when asked by CNN’s Patrick Snell what words he would choose to think about over the past 14 months. “Thanks for everyone’s support. Everyone involved in the work I do every day. The people I work with, my whole team … All the support from the players here.” Getting here, he said, was a success in itself. “Now everything is focused on how to get to where I am in the nine backs on Sunday with a chance to win again,” added Woods. “When I decide to close it, when I feel I can no longer win, then that will be it,” he said. “But I feel like I can still do it and I feel like I still have the hands to do it, the body is moving quite well.”

“Everyone needs him”

One of his companions seemed confident about what would happen on Thursday. “It’s not shocking because he’s the best player he has ever played,” Fred Kaples told reporters ahead of Woods’ announcement. “If he can walk here through 72 holes, he will fight. He is very good.” And 2021 FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay says Woods’ return is the “best thing” about golf. “He’s a good example that life is not always perfect, so it ‘s really exciting to see him on top of it,” he told the media. “So I hope he can do it this week and play well, and obviously that’s the best thing about our sport. There’s definitely a different feeling in tournaments that makes it.” In a car accident in Los Angeles last year, Woods suffered crushed open fractures that affected his right tibia and fibula, two long bones just below the knee. He admitted in February this year that he was “disappointed” with his recovery and admitted that he would not be able to play a full PGA Tour program again. Someone who knows one or two things about returning from serious injury is the four-time big winner Brooks Koepka. The 31-year-old had to endure his own worries about injuries, losing a lot of time in recent years due to surgical and rehabilitation surgery. And Koepka, who is coming to the 2022 Masters as one of the favorites for the Green jacket, said he understands what Woods can go through. “I was kind of in his shoes trying two weeks after surgery last year. This place is not exactly an easy walk,” he told the media. “I understand what he has to face. It will be difficult. But if anyone can do it, it’s him.” Koepka added: “I’m glad he gets healthier and can play golf … we need him, the game needs him, everyone needs him, the fans need him, all that. But at the end of the day everyone is. “I’m worried about myself and I’m sure everyone else is worried about themselves.”