Tiger Woods’ Masters Thursday tee time confirmed after American announces he’ll play

Tiger Woods confirms he plans to play at the Masters this week

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Golf fans have learned exactly when they can expect to see Tiger Woods finally back in action after 14 months away. The American has not played any professional golf since a horror car crash 14 months ago which caused extensive damage to his legs, but that looks set to change at the Masters later this week.

Woods was always planning to head to Augusta this week to attend the traditional Champions Dinner, but news of whether or not he would play was kept under wraps. At a press conference on Tuesday, however, that changed as he confirmed he plans to participate.

“As of right now, I feel like I am going to play,” he told reporters. “I’m going to play nine more holes tomorrow.” He even said that he feels like he can win the competition for what would be the sixth time – when asked that question he replied simply: “I do.”

If he does play as planned, then Woods will be taking to the course on Thursday afternoon for his first professional round in more than a year. He has been paired with the South African Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann of Chile, and is due to tee off at 3.34pm BST (10.34am local time).

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While all eyes will undoubtedly be on Woods and his return, there are plenty of other eye-catching groupings across the field at Augusta this week. That includes the world number one Scottie Scheffler, who will play for the first time since taking top spot in the rankings from Jon Rahm.

Scheffler will tee off at 3.56pm BST, playing in the same group as former Masters champion Adam Scott and Ryder Cup star Tony Finau. Meanwhile, Rahm will be one of the last to get under way on day one, playing with Will Zalatoris and Patrick Cantlay from 6.41pm BST.

Young Norwegian Viktor Hovland will be playing with two Americans in the form of Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele, while Rory McIlroy is due to be the last to tee off on Thursday as part of the final group alongside fellow Briton Matt Fitzpatrick and another US star in Brooks Koepka.

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As he announced his planned return to professional action, Woods admitted there was a time when he would not have believed he could play in a tournament of this prestige just over a year after his crash. “I was still in a hospital bed and was for the next three months,” he explained.

“I never even left that bed and saw my living room for three months, so that was a tough road. To finally get out of that, where I wasn’t in a wheelchair or [using] crutches and walking and still had more surgeries ahead of me, to say that I was going to be here playing and talking to you guys again, it would have been very unlikely.”

Woods also admitted he has temporarily moved away from wearing Nike footwear to help with comfort, as it is the walking which causes him the most pain. “I have very limited mobility now,” he added when questioned on the subject. “With the rods and plates and screws that are in my leg, I needed something different – something that allowed me to be more stable – and that’s what I’ve gone to.”

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