Tiger Woods is playing a dangerous game ahead of The Masters and he really doesn’t need to be

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It seems as though there is every chance that Tiger Woods will play at The Masters next month.

That’s great news for golf fans who have been deprived of watching Tiger Woods compete at The Masters since 2024.

The 50-year-old golfing superstar underwent the seventh back surgery of his career in March 2025 and as a result, he hasn’t played a competitive tournament since then.

However, it seems like a return to Augusta National could well be on the cards for the 15-time major champion in two weeks’ time.

Ahead of the Genesis Invitational in February, Tiger Woods refused to rule out a return to action at The Masters and it seems like he is building himself up to play at Augusta this year.

It has even been claimed on the official Masters website that Woods will be making his 27th appearance at Augusta National next month.

However, while the golfing world is praying that Woods tees it up at Augusta, the 50-year-old could well be making a big mistake in the build-up to The Masters.

Tiger Woods is playing a dangerous game ahead of The Masters

Woods is obviously gearing up to play The Masters for the 27th time next month.

His appearance at The SoFi Center for the TGL finals on Tuesday night was clearly somewhat of a test drive for him, so to speak.

And a very interesting video has emerged showing Woods doing something incredibly impressive just before the match.

Woods clocked a ball-speed of 177 mph before the TGL showdown between Jupiter Links and Los Angeles Golf Club.

The video was uploaded to X by golf journalist Matt Gannon:

While impressive, it is definitely concerning that Woods may be pushing too hard with speed ahead of a potential return to competitive golf.

Considering the fact that he hasn’t played a competitive tournament since July 2024, Woods trying to increase speed is probably a bad idea, given the problems he has had with his back.

The thing is, the 50-year-old doesn’t even need to be averaging a 177 mph ball-speed off the tee.

In my opinion, it’s an unnecessary risk that he simply doesn’t need to be taking ahead of The Masters next month.

Average ball-speeds of the past 10 Masters winners

At 184.2 mph, Rory McIlroy has the fastest average ball-speed out of all the past 10 Masters winners.

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler averaged ball-speeds of 178.2 mph and 179.8 mph during his two wins at Augusta National in 2022 and 2024 respectively.

Jon Rahm averaged 177.5 mph in 2023, while Dustin Johnson’s average ball-speed in 2020 was 178.7 mph.

Hideki Matsuyama clocked 171.8 mph in 2021 and, interestingly, Woods himself averaged 173.1 mph when he won at Augusta National in 2019.

Sergio Garcia clocked an averaged ball-speed of 175.1 mph in 2017 while Patrick Reed’s average in 2018 was 173.5 mph.

Meanwhile, the lowest average ball-speed out of the last 10 Masters winners was 168.4 mph – Danny Willett in 2016.

The average ball-speeds of the past 10 Masters champions combined has been 176.1 mph.

It’s clear that you can still not only contend, but win The Masters with a ball speed around the 170/172 mph mark.

Tiger Woods would be well-served to ease up on his ball-speed heading into The Masters and, indeed, during the event itself.

Bad backs are notoriously difficult to overcome and lashing away with a 177 mph ball-speed is probably not conducive to easing back into action.