Masters Golf Tournament 2010: Tiger Woods Will Play

Tiger Woods photo courtesy Keith Allison on Flickr.

Tiger Woods announces return to golf.

Last week we shared the results of our poll on whether you're ready to forgive Tiger Woods. Ready or not, here he comes: Tuesday morning Tiger Woods announced his return to golf at the Masters 2010 in April. Here's what he said in a statement.

"The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect," Tiger Woods said. "After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta."

Tiger Woods continued with the following on his return to golf: "The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it's been a while since I last played. 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 continued, "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." It had been rumored that Tiger Woods would play in the Tavistock Cup or the Arnold Palmer Invitational, both in Orlando. But Tiger's return to golf announcement squashes those possibilities, and it's reported that the biggest concerns for the Masters organization is security and chaos-avoidance as Tiger Woods makes his return. The Masters golf tournament 2010 kicks off with practice rounds on April 5 and runs through April 11.

Tiger Woods' last big golf play was at the Australian Masters on November 15, just 12 days before the November 27 car accident that caused an explosive sex scandal. There's been evidence that he flew out his main mistress Rachel Uchitel to Melbourne to spend time with him at the Australian Masters, after which Tiger Woods took home the trophy. Tiger Woods has won the Masters Golf Tournament in which he'll play next month four times (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005).

Meanwhile the New York Post ran a photo of Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren stepping out together for the first time as their front page on Tuesday.

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