… No. 1 golfer says he feels “ready” to start season
MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) – World No.1 golfer Tiger Woods, who left the game last year in the midst of a damaging adultery scandal, announced yesterday he would make his comeback to professional golf at the U.S. Masters in early April.
The return of the world’s wealthiest and most marketable sports star at the April 5-11 blockbuster golf event was a relief for his sponsors, whose multi-million dollar commercial endorsements had been rocked by the scandal around him.
“The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta,” Woods said in a statement on his website.
The 34-year-old American, whose dominance on the golf course put him in the pantheon of all-time sporting greats since he turned professional in 1996, has won the Augusta Masters four times previously.
The scandal erupted after he crashed his car outside his Florida home in the middle of the night in November, a bizarre incident that triggered a storm of media speculation over his private life.
Last month Woods made a carefully managed first public appearance since his spectacular fall from grace that rocked his multimillion-dollar sponsors.
He said he was sorry for cheating on his wife and said he was undergoing therapy, but did not give details of the treatment.
He said then that he planned to return to golf “one day,” possibly this year, but didn’t specify when.
“I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy, and I am continuing my treatment. Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life,” Woods said in his statement yesterday.