Tiger Woods to return at the Masters

Tiger Woods today said he will make his return to golf at next month's Masters at Augusta. The world No1, who has not played competitively since 15 November in Australia and whose reputation has been seriously damaged by a series of revelations about his private life in the aftermath of a car crash outside his home in Florida 10 days later, made the announcement in a statement, saying that while he was returning to the sport he still had a lot of work to do on his private life. The Masters starts on 8 April and Woods's appearance there will be one of the most eagerly anticipated sporting events in recent memory. Sean McManus, the head of the US television network CBS, which broadcasts the tournament, described Woods eventual re-emergence from his four-month hiatus as "the biggest media event other than the Obama inauguration in the past 10 or 15 years". Maybe so, but Woods's choice of Augusta as the setting for his return will also be controversial. While the tight security and restricted media access will suit the world No1's purposes, he will undoubtedly be accused of putting his own needs ahead of those of his fellow players, whose preparations for the first major champioship of the year will inevitably by disrupted by the media circus surrounding Woods. "I have undergone almost two months of inpatient [sic] therapy and I am continuing my treatment," read Woods's statement. "Although I'm returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life. "When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play. "I called both Joe Lewis and Arnold Palmer and expressed my regrets for not attending the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I again want to thank them both for their support and their understanding. Those are fantastic tournaments and I look forward to competing in them again. "I would also like to thank the Augusta National members and staff for their support. I have deep appreciation for everything that they do to create a wonderful event for the benefit of the game." Woods's decision was anticipated after the American Tour commissioner Tim Finchem spoke in Miami on Sunday. "I'm as excited as everybody else to see him back I hope this spring, but my sense is we'll know pretty soon," he said. "Everybody's done looking back at the circumstances that resulted in him stepping away from the game and (are) now focused on when he's going to play golf. "I think that's good. I think that means people are paying attention to what he said. It's going to be huge when he comes back and it's going to be an interesting thing - how he re-enters the game, how he plays, how he deals with the reaction to his statement."