Tiger Woods ALLEN EYESTONE/FOR THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Masters hints that Tiger Woods will be in the field at Augusta National

Tiger Woods hasn't officially announced that he'll be in the field for the 2024 Masters Tournament, but he may not have to. 

The official Masters website updated its players tab this week and included Woods in the 85-man field. Under the 48-year-old's biography, it says "Tiger Woods is making his 26th Masters appearance."

This would be great news for golf fans everywhere, especially considering we haven't seen Woods since he withdrew from The Genesis Invitational in February due to illness. The 15-time major winner shot a 1-over 72 in the first round but couldn't finish the second round of the tournament. 

Woods decided not to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational or The Players Championship this month, which is surprising based on his comments regarding his PGA Tour schedule. In December, Woods said he wants to play in one tournament every month for the 2024 season. 

"Once a month seems reasonable," Woods told Golf Channel at the Hero World Challenge (h/t Reuters). "It gives me a couple of weeks to recover and a week to tune up. Maybe I can get into the rhythm."

Well, that hasn't exactly panned out. Woods didn't play at all in January, finished just one round in February and didn't play in March. He made only six total starts from 2021-2023 and withdrew early from two of them, so expecting to play once a month in 2024 was a lofty goal for the oft-injured legend. 

Many fans expected Woods to try his hand at the API or Players in March because of his previous comments, but something has kept him from returning to competition. Even though his WD at Genesis wasn't related to an injury, it's fair to wonder if Woods doesn't feel comfortable with his back and ankle holding up in a busy schedule. 

We expect Woods to stick to a majors-only schedule until he gives us a reason to believe otherwise. 

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