Tiger Woods teed off at the Masters on Thursday, April 7, returning to competitive golf after a devastating car crash last year put his career into doubt.
The 15-time major champion has been away from competitive golf since suffering serious leg injuries in the crash, but he said at a news conference Tuesday that "as of right now, I feel like I am going to play." He is scheduled to tee off on Thursday morning.
Woods changed the face of golf in the late 1990s, becoming one of the most famous athletes in the world.
In 1997, at the age of 21, he won the Masters tournament by 12 strokes — a record that still stands today. A couple of months later, he was No. 1 in the world.
Woods went on to dominate the sport for the next decade, winning 12 of his 15 major championships. Only Jack Nicklaus has won more (18). Woods is also tied with Sam Snead for the most career victories on the PGA Tour (82).
Injuries and off-course problems, however, have blighted the latter years of Woods' stellar career. In 2019, he won the Masters for his first major title in 11 years. It was two years after he had spinal fusion surgery. Another back surgery caused him to miss a couple of events at the start of 2021.
Then in February 2021, Woods was hospitalized after a single-vehicle rollover accident in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. He suffered multiple fractures to his right leg and had to be pulled from his vehicle by emergency responders.