Tiger Woods set to reach quarter-century of Masters appearances

Tiger Woods is playing in his 25th Masters. Augusta National gave notice that the game’s icon is set to reach the milestone next week by announcing he will be in the interview room on Tuesday.

In truth, it would have been a bigger shock if the 47-year-old was not participating in the major he has won five times, with the most recent occasion his victorious comeback four years ago.

Woods made the cut in his only appearance of the year to date, the Genesis Invitational in LA in February, and reiterated the fact that at this stage of his career the majors were his sole focus.

The right leg that he almost lost in a car crash two years ago held up well at Riviera considering he had not played competitively in seven months, with his third-round 67 especially impressive.

“My intent last year was to play in all four majors, I got [to play] three of the four,” Woods said after finishing 45th. “Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there. But that’s it for the rest of my career. That’s just my reality.”

It will be intriguing to see who Woods is paired with and if the green jackets dare to group the world No 995 with any of the 18 LIV golfers in the 89-man field. Woods has previously made his feelings known on the Saudi-funded circuit with Bryson DeChambeau revealing here at the third LIV Golf event of the year that his former friend had cut off all contact since he jumped ship last summer.
“He’s been a great friend,” DeChambeau told Golfweek. “I texted him on his birthday [but he did not reply]. It is what it is.”

Some LIV players will be heading to Georgia with much to prove. One is Open champion Cam Smith.

“There’s a lot of chatter about ‘these guys don’t play real golf anymore’ and I think it’s BS [bull----],” the Australian said. “And we just want to show people that.”