Tiger Woods 'Looked Great,' Dru Love Says Ahead Of Comeback

Tiger Woods is preparing to make his comeback at the Wells Fargo Championship this week after taking a break following his participation at the Augusta Masters in early April.

The 14-time major winner took his standard post-Masters recess and focus on his fitness before announcing his return to action at the Quail Hollow Golf Course. This will be Woods’ seventh tour event since coming back from back injury at the start of the year.

“I’m excited to get back out there,” Woods said via his official site. “I took some time off and worked hard in the gym. I’ve made good progress and want to keep moving forward.”

The American’s last start was the Masters, where he tied for 32nd place after starting the event as one of the favorites. The euphoria has died down a bit after it had reached a crescendo prior to the tournament following his tied second and tied fifth finishes at the Valspar Championships and the Arnold Palmer Invitational respectively.

Woods is playing the Wells Fargo Championship for the first time in 2012 with his only win in North Carolina coming in 2007. The American will be joined by two reigning major champions, namely Brooks Koepka (2017 US Open champion) and Patrick Reed (2018 Masters champion) in the first two rounds with the tee time set at 12.50 p.m. EDT on Thursday.

The 42-year-old arrived at Quail Hollow earlier in the week and took part in a practice round with Justin Thomas, Dru Love and Bryson DeChambeau on Tuesday. He played nine holes with the trio and Love, who arranged the practice round, praised Woods’s short game ahead of the tournament start Thursday.

“He looked great,” Love said about Woods’ game, as quoted on Golfweek. “His putting looked good and his short game looked incredible, which is no surprise. He drove it better than a lot of people give him credit for. They say he hits wild tee balls, and they were perfect today. He looks good and any time he plays in a tournament he’s got a chance to win. I didn’t see anything that (suggested) he didn’t.”

Woods also showed off a new set of TaylorMade clubs ahead of his return at Quail Hollow. “Phase 1 of irons development with TaylorMade Golf is complete. Looking forward to teeing it up this week!” the American said alongside a picture of his kit bag on Twitter.

Woods signed an endorsement deal with TaylorMade in January 2017 and was using the company’s drivers and fairway woods since December 2016.

“We have been working closely with Tiger on the development, creation and refinement of a set of TaylorMade irons that meet his precise standards and preferences,” TaylorMade said in a statement to Golfweek. “As we continue to develop future iterations of Tiger’s prototype irons, ‘TW·Phase1′ marks Tiger’s initial transition into a TaylorMade set. This set was built to his meticulous specifications.”

The American, who last won a tournament in 2013 at the Bridgestone Invitational, has a busy week ahead. Following his participation at the Wells Fargo Championship, he also committed to the Players Championship at TCP Sawgrass beginning May 8.