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Buzz swirls: Tiger's plane at Augusta

By Scott Michaux
Published on
Buzz swirls: Tiger's plane at Augusta

Buzz has been swirling that Tiger Woods would be practicing at Augusta National Golf Club this week, and it seems the four-time Masters Tournament champion is working out the kinks in his game today in Augusta.

A plane matching the tail numbers of Tiger Woods' Gulfstream G5 was parked in front of the terminal for private aircraft at Augusta Regional Airport this morning.

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Woods hasn't played on the PGA Tour since withdrawing after 11 holes at Torrey Pines on Feb. 5. He announced an indefinite leave of absence to work on the flaws in his game Feb. 11.

"My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf," Woods said. "Like I've said, I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be back."

Woods skipped events at PGA National and Bay Hill. After informing Arnold Palmer that he would not be playing in the event he's won eight times, Woods said "I hope to be ready for the Masters, and I will continue to work hard preparing for Augusta."

Woods missed the Masters for the first time in 20 years in 2014 after undergoing back surgery the week before the tournament. He last won the Masters in 2005 and has finished outside of the top six at Augusta only once in his last nine starts.

On Monday, Woods fell to 104th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the first time he's been outside the top 100 since before he won the first of his 79 PGA Tour victories at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational.

If Woods plays Augusta next week it will be his first competitive round in two months. It would be his longest layoff before a major since 2010, when he finished tied for fourth at the Masters after returning from a five-month sabbatical.

Woods was 34 then and had won seven times in 2009, including his last start at the Australian Masters in November. He was still ranked No. 1 in the world.

Woods, now 39, has only played 47 holes in 2015, and he was 15-over par. That included a career-worst 82 in the second round in Phoenix, where he missed 18 greens in two days and got up-and-down only five times with a poor short-game display.

Due to health or poor form, Woods has only played in 10 tournaments since the start of 2014, completing only three of them and finishing better than 69th only once.

This article was written by Scott Michaux from The Augusta Chronicle, Ga. and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.