Tiger Woods has indicated he is determined to play in next month's Masters, despite admitting he got his 'a*** kicked' after returning to competitive golf in the TGL Finals. The 15-time major champion, who has not played since The Open in July 2024 and underwent back surgery last October, featured for Jupiter Links in the second match of the best-of-three series against Los Angeles Golf Club.
Woods, who replaced Kevin Kisner, could not prevent a 9-2 defeat as Los Angeles, featuring English pair Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose, sealed the series with a game to spare. The 50-year-old looked physically sharp, hitting drives over 300 yards, but missed a crucial three-foot putt on the seventh hole, allowing Los Angeles to seize momentum with three consecutive eagles.
Speaking after the match, Woods said: 'It was fine physically. I had a couple of drives I had to hit and a couple of putts… it was a lot of fun to be a part of it. We got our a*** kicked at the end. Three eagles in a row, we didn’t respond.' On his chances of playing at Augusta National from April 9, he added: 'I’ve been trying, this body doesn’t recover like it did when I was 24, 25. I want to play. I’ve loved the tournament since I was 19 years old.'
Woods has been plagued by back issues and also ruptured his Achilles tendon last spring. Despite the setbacks, he remains hopeful: 'I’ll be practising, playing, and keep trying to make progress. It feels good to be back but I would have liked it to be better circumstances.'
Justin Rose, who lost a play-off to Rory McIlroy at Augusta last year, reflected on the decisive moment: 'They got off to a good start, fair play, but we were doing nothing tragic. You’re not always going to go three eagles on the bounce, that’s an insane way to finish.'
