Tiger Woods is back, and it’s not just golf fans who are excited about it.
Justin Rose was one of the few players with a front row seat to the 15-time major winner’s return to competitive action. His LAGC took on Woods’ Jupiter Golf Links in the TGL final, where Woods played for the first time since his back surgery late last year.
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Woods said at this year’s Genesis Invitational that he’s attempting to play at Augusta National this year, and this is the biggest step he’s taken towards making that a reality. All eyes were glued to the golfing great to see how his swing looked just weeks before The Masters.
Justin Rose, whose TGL team demolished Woods’ in the final, gave his verdict on how Woods performed.
Photo by Adam Glanzman/TGL/TGL Golf via Getty Images
Justin Rose said Tiger Woods looked ‘impressive’ in return to golf
Swinging it for the first time in competitive action this year, Woods looked in fine form. His first shot was a stinger three-wood which carried over 280 yards, and there were no signs of his back troubling him.
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Rose, speaking after the match, said he was impressed by Woods’ performance. The Englishman said, “I think it was going to be a special night seeing him back. Special night for golf. He does bring so much to it. I was just looking at it curious like yeah, it would be great to see where he’s at.
“He looked impressive. I don’t think he hit a bad shot. The only bad shot he hit was not a bad shot; it was just too good a shot, almost, with a wedge that went too far. But his fairway woods — everything looked great.
“So from a ball-striking point of view — obviously the putting, missed a short one, that’s the bit that kind of shows if you haven’t been competing, so that can hopefully change for him in the not-too-distant future.
“If he can obviously find some consistency in terms of competing, the short game and the putting and the touch will come back quick. He looked in a good spot, but he’s a legend, isn’t he, so to share the floor with him is awesome.”
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That’s a positive sign for Woods’ Masters return, although the five-time winner at Augusta didn’t seem so optimistic.
What Tiger Woods said about his Masters return
Woods was asked if his TGL return made it more or less likely that he’d play in The Masters, and he didn’t seem confident.
He answered, “As I said, I’ve been trying. Just this body is — it doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn’t mean I’m not trying. I’ve been trying for a while. I’ve had a couple bad injuries here over the past years that I’ve had to fight through and it’s taken some time.
“But I keep trying. I want to play. I love the tournament. I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old. It’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years. I’m going to be there either way with The Loop that’s going up there, as well as the Champions Dinner.”
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When asked when he thinks he’ll make the decision, Woods said, “I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes. I’ll be practicing, playing at home this week and keep trying to make progress.”
He still hasn’t closed the door on playing at Augusta, but with just a few weeks to go before the year’s first major, signs aren’t looking great.
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