Tiger Woods heads straight to chipping area upon Augusta arrival
— -- AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta National on Monday afternoon to begin preparations in advance of what will be his 20th Masters Tournament.
Woods got to the driving range at 3:24 p.m. ET -- and headed straight to the chipping area.
The four-time Masters champion who has slipped to No. 111 in the world amid injury and inactivity will be playing a tournament for the first time since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open on Feb. 5 with lower back stiffness.
It wasn't until Friday that Woods announced he would be even playing this week in the Masters, the first major of the year. He missed the tournament in 2014 due to back surgery and has withdrawn from two tournaments and missed the cut in three others in just seven worldwide starts since the procedure to address a disk issue.
Woods has played just 47 holes this year, missing the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open prior to withdrawing from the Farmers tournament. He then announced a leave to work on his game.
Last week, Woods made two separate visits to Augusta National to practice. The last of his four victories here occurred 10 years ago, in a sudden-death playoff over Chris DiMarco.
