Jaime Diaz suggests whether he thinks Tiger Woods will now play on the PGA Tour before the Masters

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The big question surrounding Tiger Woods after he decided to not play in the Genesis Invitational concerns whether he will play in a PGA Tour event before he hopefully tees it up at Augusta National at the Masters.

It has been a difficult time for Tiger Woods. It was difficult to not be optimistic about his condition after his superb showing at the PNC Championship in December. He followed that with two appearances in TGL.

Understandably however, Woods felt that he was not able to play in the Genesis Invitational following the recent passing of his mother. The 15-time major champion noted that he did not feel ready – but stopped short of providing an update on his fitness.

Mark Immelman noted Woods was walking with a noticeable limp on the range on Sunday at Torrey Pines, which perhaps suggests that he is going to struggle to play before the Masters. But some are not convinced that it is out of the question.

Tiger Woods backed to make PGA Tour return before the Masters

Speaking on 5 Clubs, Jaime Diaz was asked whether Woods could play before the first major of the year – and he seemed more optimistic.

“I think he’ll want to and I think he’s capable. From what I’ve seen, him walking recently, whether it was at the father/son or even at TGL, just walking around, he looks not in pain,” he said.

“And his golf swing, Brandel did a great breakdown from TGL, the speed there is 176 ball speed. The move looked really good, he’s getting force off his right foot which is the issue obviously, so to me, I think he wants to play because he feels like, ‘I’ve got more game than people know’. He should play the Players probably.”

How Tiger Woods has performed at the Players Championship

Woods has not played the Players Championship since 2019. It is hard to believe therefore, that he would have gone to Sawgrass this year had he been in the field at Torrey Pines.

But it is – as is usually the case – a course Woods has won on previously. He triumphed in 2001 and 2013, and he has never missed the cut in the event.

The other potential option is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill – an event he has won a staggering eight times. However, Bay Hill is arguably the more gruelling proposition. And Woods may be wary of playing in any event which could set back his preparations for the Masters.

Woods is in a tricky position because he clearly needs to play more to become more competitive again. But his body is still seemingly taking a long time to recover each time he does manage to get out there.