Tiger Woods isn’t back yet, but he’s getting very close

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The news on Tiger Woods is no news, but you get the feeling something’s about to happen, don’t you?

Woods hasn’t played competitive golf since August 2015, and since then he’s undergone two surgeries. He ended months of (mostly idle) speculation the Friday before the Masters by declining to play in the tournament, although he did fly in for the Champions Dinner. The golf world has moved on from Woods, but it appears, based on recent rumblings, that Woods isn’t quite ready for permanent residency on the couch just yet.

A report earlier this week indicated Woods has been practicing at Medalist Golf Club near his home in Jupiter, Fla., including playing some holes. On Friday, Golf Digest’s Tim Rosaforte, who filed the initial report on Woods, offered up this prediction:

Based on his progress it makes sense @TigerWoods comes back sooner than later. Indications point to @WellsFargoGolf-@THEPLAYERSChamp return.

— Tim Rosaforte (@TimRosaforte) April 22, 2016

Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, immediately texted Rosaforte to report that “Nothing has changed,” i.e. that no return date had been selected. But what’s clear is that Woods is on track to return to the game, and possibly very soon. A return at the Wells Fargo or the Players in May would set up Woods to play in the season’s final three majors, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship … assuming, of course, his health permits him to do so.

It’s indisputable that Woods belongs to a bygone era; he’ll never again dominate the world of golf the way he did in the early 2000s. Indeed, it’s entirely possible he’ll never win another tournament, and that he’ll be teeing off hours before the leaders in every tournament he plays … assuming he even makes it to Sunday. This is the era of Spieth and McIlroy and Day now, guys who looked to Tiger the same way they looked to Nicklaus and Palmer–as forerunners, not competitors.

But what’s also indisputable is that Woods is one of sports’ true icons, a player who shifts golf’s axis with every public statement and appearance. Success, failure, mediocrity … no matter what Woods does next, it will be a fascinating story in its own right.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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