15-time major champion will play until he can ‘no longer win.

As Tiger Woods prepares to return to professional golf, he says he will compete as long as he believes he can still win.

After withdrawing from the Masters due to injury in April, Woods will play in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

After a car accident in 2021 that sidelined him for almost 14 months, the 47-year-old American said earlier this month he had “zero issues” with his surgically repaired right ankle. In spite of this, he indicated that there are still some injury problems.

According to Woods, replacing the ankle or fusing it was the only option. The next part is the hardest, the six months of doing nothing. The first couple months were rough, now I am on the good side.”

As the five-time Masters champion has struggled to walk 18 holes since, he has decided now is the right time to return to golf. Earlier this month, he caddied for his son Charlie at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship.

After the tournament, Woods said, “I thought, ‘I can probably do this.'” He hit golf balls a lot to prepare Charlie for the contest.

Despite playing a lot of holes, I haven’t used a pencil or a scorecard.

I’m excited to compete and play. I’m as curious as you all to see what happens. My game feels rusty. I haven’t played in awhile.

There is no pain in my ankle now that I had in Augusta. Other parts are taking the brunt of the load. But the surgery was successful.”

On Thursday, Albany, The Bahamas will host a 20-player invitational tournament that includes Justin Rose, Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland.