With the Masters’ first round just two weeks away, there has been a lot of focus on who is now listed in the field and who isn’t.
Phil Mickelson was removed off the roster of players for this year’s tournament and put to a list of past champions who are not playing the Masters, according to Sports Illustrated earlier this week.
Mickelson hasn’t competed on the PGA Tour since January, announcing in February that he was taking “time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on becoming the man I want to be.”
The name that remained on the field list, though, grabbed much more attention. Tiger Woods has been invited to compete in the Masters. However, under to tournament rules, an invitee remains in the field until they tell Augusta National that they will not be participating.
Woods hasn’t played a competitive round since sustaining serious injuries in a single-vehicle automobile accident in Los Angeles in February 2021.
While speaking with CBS’ Jim Nantz at the Genesis Invitational earlier this year, Woods was asked about competing in the Masters, and the five-time Masters champion merely gave an evasive response: “You’ll see me on the PGA Tour [in 2022].” He explained, “I just don’t know when.”
The Masters, unlike other Tour events, has no commitment date, therefore Woods might wait until tournament week to confirm his participation in the year’s first major.
