Tiger Woods officially enters Safeway Open, confirming PGA Tour return

Tiger Woods made it official on Friday, entering next week’s PGA Tour season opener, the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.

Woods committed to the event well ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline to join the field. He last played in this event in 2011, when it was called the Frys.com Open.

This start will mark Woods’ first on the PGA Tour since August 2015, when he finished tied for 10th place at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., in a last-ditch effort to get into the FedEx Cup playoffs. After complaining of hip pain that week, Woods learned in a visit to his surgeon that the source of his pain was in the same part of his back where a microdiscectomy was performed in March 2014. A second microdiscectomy was performed in September 2015, with a follow-up procedure done the next month.

Tiger Woods will make his return to the PGA Tour next week. (AP)

No one has seen Woods hit a golf ball publicly since he knocked three 103-yard shots in a water hazard guarding the par-3 10th at Congressional Country Club in May for Quicken Loans National media day.

Last week, Woods received high marks for his work as a Ryder Cup vice-captain. On Wednesday, he was announced as one of Steve Stricker’s three assistant captains for next year’s Presidents Cup in New Jersey.

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