Tiger Woods Will Play In The Masters Despite Ankle Issues

The speculation regarding Tiger Woods’ participation in the 2024 Masters has ended.

The Augusta National Golf Club, which runs the Masters, lists all golfers it invites to participate in the tournament as competitors on its site unless it receives notice that they are not appearing. As NBC Sports reports, in addition to Woods’ schedule update on his website, the Masters added Woods to its press conference schedule.

This is the clearest confirmation that Woods, who has won the most PGA Tour events in history, will participate in the tournament where his storied career began.

The Masters, which runs April 11-13, is the first major tournament of the year on the men’s calendar. Woods is scheduled to appear in the press conference on April 9 at 11 a.m. EDT, just before Rory McIlroy. 

There is some concern over whether Woods can walk the 7,555 yard course as his longtime friend and former teammate at Stanford University, Notah Begay, told USA Today on a conference call.

“He’s trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work within given the constraints that he’s presented with. And he’s got some constraints,” Begay said. “He’s got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have.”

Begay said Woods told him personally at a junior golf tournament he hosts that his ankle doesn’t move. “So something’s going to take the stress,” Begay added. “I mean, the stress is going to transfer somewhere else.”

The question for Begay is not about Woods’ ability to play golf but his ability to ambulate after a 2021 accident, which almost cost him the lower half of his right leg. Woods has not completed an entire Masters since the injury, most recently withdrawing in 2023 due to a foot injury. 

“He can play the golf. We always knew the question was going to be ‘Can he walk the 72 (holes)?’ That’s still up in the air. But can he recover, from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question that I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he’s prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”

“I think playing on the weekend would be a win, a win-win,” ESPN golf commentator Andy North told USA Today. “He’s going to tell you that he’s there because he thinks he can win the tournament, but to be realistic, what he’s gone through, you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. What he has to do to get ready to go out and try to play golf every single day is very, very difficult.”

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