Tiger Woods Returning to Golf

Tiger Woods will probably end his self-imposed exile from competitive golf at next month’s Masters Tournament, the Associated Press reported.

Photo: Tiger Woods Returning to Golf

The Masters, the first of the year’s four major golf championships, is scheduled for April 8-11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

The New York Post said yesterday Woods was “plotting a strategy” to return to the golf tour at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida, which starts March 25. Woods won’t play before the Masters, AP said, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the top-ranked golfer’s plans.

It’s almost four months since Woods competed in a tournament. The last time he took an extended break and returned at one of the majors was in 2006. He missed the cut for the first time in a major as a professional at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, following a nine-week break prompted by the death of his father.

Woods, 34, said on Feb. 19 that he didn’t have a timetable to return to golf but didn’t rule out playing again this year. The Golf Channel and Golf Digest said he’s started working with coach Hank Haney at the private Isleworth Golf & Country Club near his Florida home and tour pro Charles Howell III has said he’s run into Woods on the practice range, Bloomberg informs.