Tiger Woods is set to make his return to competitive golf for the finals of the TGL simulator golf league on Tuesday night months after his latest back surgery. 

The announcement came after Day 1 of the finals between LA Golf Club and Woods' Jupiter Links Golf Club.

Evoking Michael Jordan's return from baseball, the TGL account tweeted out an image of Woods mid-swing with the words 'He's back' after the event ended. This was additionally confirmed by ESPN's Marty Smith.

Woods' team, Jupiter Links, fell 6-5 in the first day of the best-of-three championship series, with the 15-time major winner reflecting on the defeat afterwards.

'I feel bad for 'em, as a team we're together in this, all of us together,' Woods told reporters, adding, 'We've been there before, we were in a playoff once and this was damn near there. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, but we have possibly two more matches. We're not out of this. Even with a loss, we're still not out of it.'

The return fuels speculation that Woods may break his lengthy absence from PGA Tour events at The Masters this April.

Last year, Woods missed the chance to play at Augusta after he underwent an operation on his Achilles tendon during the TGL season.

Last October, Woods underwent surgery again - this time on his back. It was the seventh back operation he's had in his career.

The injuries sparked fears over the future of the golfing great's career, ramping up speculation once again over his chances of competing at The Masters. 

However, eagle-eyed supporters of the 15-time major winner were quick to spot that Woods' biography page on The Masters site had been updated last week - with one key detail. 

From last Thursday, the opening line of Woods' blurb read: 'Tiger Woods is making his 27th Masters start in 2026.'

His name was also notably excluded from the list of 'Past Champions Not Playing' and was instead included in the 2026 playing field.

Woods' lengthy absence has him on the verge of losing his spot in the Official World Golf Ranking - considering it'd be two years this July since he last competed.

He has not teed it up in a professional tournament since the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon and hasn't played a full four rounds since that same year's edition of The Masters. 

While he has not played for Jupiter Links in TGL, Woods has taken on the role of 'manager' to his team of golfers: Tom Kim, Max Homa, Kevin Kisner, and Akshay Bhatia.

Woods previously remained coy on the possibility of playing in the final, despite insisting that he had tried to play in every match this season to no avail. 

'Well, I think that I have been trying to play each and every one of these matches,' he said. 'I've been trying to come back. But it just hasn't worked out that way. ... But the guys here, this team, we have so much fun, I really don't want to screw up the lineup, I just want these guys to keep playing.'

He also slowly ramped up his return, going from chipping and putting to hitting mid-irons. Now, he seems to have made enough of a recovery to take out the big stick and swing hard.

Woods is no stranger to serious injuries in the back half of his career. In 2021, he suffered a serious car crash that resulted in open fractures to his right leg.

In April 2023, he had surgery on his right ankle after aggravating it during that year's Masters. The following September, Woods underwent what would be his sixth back surgery which was done to 'alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season.'

2025 was a complete wash after the Achilles injury before he had his aforementioned seventh back surgery to replace a disk in his lumbar.