As he is a former champion – a five-time Masters winner – Woods would automatically qualify for the event and mark a sensational return. The 46-year-old has gone through extensive rehabilitation since suffering horrific leg injuries in a car crash last February in Los Angeles, just two months on from undergoing further surgery on his back injury which has plagued Woods for years.
The crash saw Woods suffer comminuted open fractures to both the tibia and fibula in his right leg after losing control of his vehicle, and was rushed to the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center before being eventually trasnferred to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Woods spent three bed-bound weeks receiving medical attention and even reportedly faced potential amputation.
Soon after the accident, Woods admitted he would only return to the PGA Tour part-time in the future due to his health. While on a Zoom interview with Golf Digest, Woods said: “I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day – never full time, ever again – but pick and choose, just like Mr. [Ben] Hogan did. Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that.
“You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on. It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it.”
