Butch Harmon
Golf Columnist
Tiger Woods at The Masters: Butch Harmon on whether Woods will tee it up at Augusta National
Woods practised at Augusta on Sunday, and tweeted: "It will be a game-time decision on whether I compete."; watch The Masters throughout the week live from Augusta National exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf
Last Updated: 04/04/22 10:31am
Will Tiger Woods tee it up at The Masters this week? With still no official confirmation on whether Woods intends to return to competitive action at Augusta National, Butch Harmon assesses whether we’ll see the 15-time major champion make his latest major comeback…
I know Tiger Woods and he just isn't going to play The Masters for the sake of playing. If he doesn't feel he can compete at a high level, even to the point in his mind where he could compete to have a chance to win, I'm not sure he would tee it up just to shoot 79, 79.
When the news broke on Tuesday that he had been playing golf with his son and Justin Thomas at Augusta National, I think that was a trial to see if he could even possibly walk 18 holes. It's an extremely hilly course, a tough course to walk, and I think the number one test was whether he feels that he's capable of walking 72 holes - which is what he'll have to be capable of this week.
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If this was July at The Open at St Andrews, a flat golf course, I would say he would play, but I'm really not sure if you're going to see him play the tournament rounds. I think we all hope that he will be playing, but we probably won't know - to be honest with you - until Thursday whether he is actually going to go.
I think right now, at 46 years old, he's testing himself to see if he's capable of competing and he's not just going to tee it up for ceremony at this point of his life. If he doesn't feel that he can compete at a high level, then I don't think we'll see him this week.
Ten years from now that might be different, when he gets into his mid-50s and would be competing just for the sake of being a former champion, but I don't think he is at that part of his life now.
We all want Woods to play and we all hope he does, as it would almost be another miracle. We never thought he would play again and yet he came back and won a major, but this one would be even greater, just to come back and compete and compete at a level where he's in the hunt.
Whether he can win or not, I feel like if he can feel like he's capable of getting in the hunt, he will play. I don't think he'll play for the ceremonial walk around Augusta National.
Why has Tiger not confirmed he will play?
You know how Tiger's camp is, you get no insider information! I know JT very well, who played him the other day, but I could call him up and ask him how Tiger played and he wouldn't tell you a word. That's the way Tiger wants it and that's the way he would keep it.
That may seem ridiculous, but Tiger has never been any different and that's the way the camp has been. They don't really let out any information and they cover up things as much as possible, so we're really not going to know until we get confirmation from Tiger himself.
He'll be there for the Champions Dinner, but it's unclear whether he would play many practice rounds having played on Tuesday and with the weather forecast how it is during the early part of the week. I guess we'll just have to wait until Thursday when his name is announced - as he walks through the gallery to the tee - and everyone goes crazy!
It's going to be Tiger, Tiger and more Tiger over the next few days - we all know that. That's already been the case so far, as almost everything so far in the build-up to The Masters this year has been about Woods.
Watch The Masters throughout the week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday with Featured Groups from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf.
