NEW YORK: According to various reports, Tiger Woods played an 18-hole practise round at Augusta National on Tuesday with his son Charlie and friend Justin Thomas, in order to assess his condition ahead of the Masters next week.

Woods flew to and from Georgia on his private jet, according to ESPN and Sports Illustrated, citing unnamed sources, to assess how well he could walk the steep layout only 13 months after sustaining major leg injuries in a California automobile accident.

The first major golf tournament of the year will be held April 7-10 at Augusta National, where Woods has won five of his 15 major championships.

In February 2021, Tiger Woods was involved in an automobile accident and suffered severe injuries to his right leg, later stating that he was fortunate to escape the accident and still have both legs.

While he has stated that he intends to return to tournament play on a restricted basis, the 15-time major champion has not stated when he will return to competitive play.

The arrival of Woods sparked speculation that the 46-year-old American, whose world ranking has dropped to 944, could make his comeback on the same Augusta National course where he last competed in a PGA event in November 2020 after Covid-19 postponed the tournament from April.

After winning the 2008 US Open in a playoff with a broken leg, Woods won the 2019 Masters, his first major trophy in 11 years.

The Masters triumph culminated Woods’ comeback from several back operations that left him questioning whether he’d ever be able to live a pain-free life, let alone play golf again.

After the 2021 collision, Tiger Woods spent weeks in the hospital and unable to walk for months. He’s had to rehab his legs just to be able to walk, let alone return to playing form.

Woods, on the other hand, didn’t appear to have tested his ability to walk the course if he wasn’t sure in his shotmaking abilities on the layout.

Tiger Woods has now been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and has played in a family event alongside Charlie.

Woods stays on a list of previous champions who are qualified for next week’s Masters, rather than a list of non-playing past champions, on the Masters website.

Woods has confirmed that he will be at Augusta next week for the Masters Champions Dinner on April 5th.

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