Veteran golfer, Tiger Woods has announced that he would play in the Memorials Tournament, holding between the 16th and 19th of July, which would be his first PGA Tour appearance since February, where he competed at the Genesis Invitational.

Professional golf has resumed in the US since June, and Woods admitted that his delay had been due to safety concerns. He teamed up with Peyton Manning at The Match: Champions, which was an event to raise money for charity.

Woods has won the Memorials Tournament 5 times and hopes to make it 6 with this weekend’s appearance. Now that he’s back, the 15-time major champion is set to feature in other tournaments before the end of the year as he would also defend his 5th Masters’ title in November. Woods would have participated in the Players Championship, the last golf event to hold before the break due to the virus, but had to pull out due to a back injury.

Speaking of his decision to return to golf now, he said, “I did consider playing, trying to figure out if I should play or not. I just felt it was better to stay at home and be safe. Let’s see how it plays out first and let’s see how the Tour has played out, how they’ve started, and I feel that I’m comfortable enough to come back out here and play again, and I’m excited to do it.” He also described being in the course as a “risk” as one would be around “individuals that you don’t know where they’ve been or what they’ve been doing.”

The Memorials Tournament would hold in Muirfield Village, Ohio, and would feature no fans. The PGA earlier announced that their remaining games for the year would feature no fans or spectators around the golf course, and only a limited number of personnel would be available. This announcement comes as the US cases of the coronavirus continue to rise.

Written by: Leon Osamor