Tiger Woods confirmed he will return to full-time competition at next fortnight’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines near San Diego.
Woods is no stranger to the event or the course having won the tournament on seven occasions while he captured his 14th Major Championship also at Torrey Pines in winning the 2008 U.S. Open.
News of Woods return clearly delighted Farmers Insurance Tournament Director, Peter Ripa.
“It’s awesome,” Ripa said. “There’s a feeling that this comeback is different, with the eye test we got at the Hero World Challenge. He hit shots, he looked strong. There’s a national anticipation for this.
Tiger Woods wins a seventh Farmers Insurance Open trophy in 2013.
“Tiger shares a rich history with Torrey Pines Golf Course, and with The Farmers Insurance Open, in particular. We are excited to have him join our field once again, alongside some of the game’s greats.
“His legacy already cemented, we look forward to, together with our fans, watching as Tiger writes the latest chapter of his storied career.”
Woods, who recently turned 42, is making the choice to return to the site where he has had the most success in his pro career.
He first won the Farmers Insurance Open in 1999 and then again in 2013 before winning four straight titles from 2005 and his last in 2013.
However, it was at Torrey Pines a year ago Woods also made his return to golf at Torrey Pines, coming off a 17-month layoff but was clearly still far from 100% fit in missing the cut with scores of 76 and 72.
It was the first time in Woods’ career that he missed the cut at Torrey.
The week after the Farmers, Woods travelled overseas to play in the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, posting a horror bogey-laden first day 77 but then withdrawing in dramatic circumstances ahead of the second round with back spasms.
Woods didn’t play in an official tournament the rest of the year and underwent fusion surgery on his lower back.
In confirming his return, Woods also indicated he will contest his own Tiger Woods Foundation hosted Genesis Open starting on the Riviera course in suburban L.A. on February 12th.
“I’m very excited to be back at Riviera,” added Woods.
“I haven’t played at Riviera in a tournament in a very long time. To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it’s a dream come true.”
The Riviera Country Club is the site also of Woods’ first PGA Tour event in 1992, competing on a sponsor’s exemption as an amateur while he last played the course in 2006.
Early last month, he returned to competition at the limited-field Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and played well, shooting 8-under 280 to tie for ninth place.
And the Woods that walked off the Albany course some weeks ago was clearly in a far better physical condition than the player who limped out of the Emirates Golf Club earlier last year.
