Tiger Woods IS set to play at the Masters next week in Augusta

BREAKING NEWS: Tiger Woods IS set to play at the Masters next week after being included in pre-tournament press conference schedule

Five-time winner Tiger Woods is set to compete in next week’s Masters after he was included on the pre-tournament interview schedule.

Woods has made it clear that his competitive career will now be limited to a handful of events a year, a legacy of the car crash in February 2021 which left the 15-time major champion fearing his right leg would have to be amputated.

The 47-year-old will prioritize the majors and tournaments with which he has a personal connection, with his sole competitive appearance before arriving at Augusta National coming in February’s Genesis Invitational, which benefits his foundation.

Woods played just nine rounds in top-level competition in 2022, finishing 47th in the Masters, withdrawing after a third round of 79 in the US PGA Championship and then missing the cut in the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.

It will be the first time Woods has faced the media directly since claims emerged from his ex-girlfriend Erica Herman that he sexually abused her, tricked her into leaving the Florida mansion that they shared and is suing him for $30m.

Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods is set to compete at next week’s tournament 

Woods is scheduled to give a press conference next week as part of the build-up to the event

Woods is scheduled to give a press conference next week as part of the build-up to the event

Herman, 39, made the startling allegation in a suit in which she is trying to void a non-disclosure agreement which she claims she was forced to sign.

She goes into no detail as to what the alleged abuse entailed, just ticking the ‘yes’ box under the question ‘Does this case involve allegations of sexual abuse?’

In a separate court filing uncovered by DailyMail.com, Herman is suing Woods for $30 million for ‘severe’ emotional damage, alleging that he tricked her into leaving the Florida mansion where they had lived together for six years.

She says in papers filed in October that former World Number One Woods persuaded her to go on a short vacation and when she got to the airport, his representatives told her she had been locked out.

Herman claims that Woods’s representatives removed $40,000 of her money and made ‘scurrilous and defamatory allegations’ about how she got the money.

She is demanding more than $30million for what she claims are ‘breaches of duty’ that left her suffering ‘severe’ emotional damages.

Ahead of the first Major on the golfing calendar next week, Cameron Smith is the only LIV Golf League player included on the interview schedule courtesy of his victory at St Andrews before joining the Saudi-funded circuit.

A group representing victims’ families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States had pledged to protest at Augusta due to eligible LIV players, including former champions Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson, being invited to compete.

However, 9/11 Families United announced on Friday that they would instead hold a press conference in Atlanta on Tuesday to discuss what they described as Augusta’s decision ‘to embrace the American golfers who have partnered with the (Saudi) Kingdom over the last year to help ‘sportswash’ its horrific record’.

It will be the first time Woods has faced media since allegations over his Erica Herman split

It will be the first time Woods has faced media since allegations over his Erica Herman split

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk