Tiger Woods commits to play in season-opening Safeway Open.

Tiger Woods made his return to competitive golf next week official on Friday by committing to the PGA Tour's season-opening Safeway Open in Napa, California.
It is the first tournament of the 2016-17 season and Woods' first event since the 2015 Wyndham Championship, where he tied for 10th more than a year ago. Since then Woods had endured a slow recovery and rehabilitation from two back surgeries in September and again in October of 2015.
The PGA Tour announced the commitment.
On Sept. 7, Woods announced it was his "hope" to return at the Safeway Open, the Turkish Airlines Open next month and the Hero World Challenge, an 18-player tournament his foundation runs in December.
But Woods never formally committed to the Safeway, a procedural move that is required by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to the tournament week. Such commitments are not binding -- players can withdraw at any time.

When Woods tees off in the first round on Thursday, it will have been 417 days between official tournament rounds. Woods, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for a record 683 weeks, is now 767th. He was 257th following the Wyndham.
"My rehabilitation is to the point where I'm comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do," Woods said in a statement on Sept. 7. "Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go.
"I'm looking forward to going to California for my foundation event (at Pebble Beach from Sunday-Tuesday) and Safeway. I'm also excited to return to Turkey and Albany (in the Bahamas). It could be a fun fall. It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn't rush it."
Woods was at Hazeltine National last week as a vice captain to U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III.

Although he was visible and spoke afterward about being honored to one day be considered to be captain, he did not address his health or whether or not he would play next week.
The Safeway tournament has nonetheless been advertising Woods' participation, along with that of Phil Mickelson, who welcomed Woods' return and said he hoped to be grouped with him doing the first two rounds.
The Turkish Airlines Open, Nov. 3-6, is the first of three European Tour events known as the Final Series. Woods played the tournament in 2013 and tied for third. He is likely getting an appearance fee to compete.
The Hero World Challenge, Dec. 1-4, is an 18-player event that invites players based on the world rankings and major championships. Woods has an exemption as tournament host.

I am one of the few in forumville that hopes he returns to winning....Good luck to him.....

You`re not the only 1.....I hope he has some game left in him.

Good luck Tiger!

http://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/golf/golflarrybohannan/2016/11/22/question-keeps-coming-up-tiger-done/94300250/<section id="module-position-PhOAC1XIbSk" class="storytopbar-bucket story-headline-module story-story-headline-module" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The question keeps coming up: is Tiger done?

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I had a chance to talk to the men’s club at Palm Desert Greens Country Club, just kind of rambling about how I think that golf is in a little better shape in the desert this year than it was last year, when courses were closing and gloom and doom ruled the day.
At the end, there were questions. What do you think of the health of the CareerBuilder Challenge? Did you put any of our holes on your top 100 list?
And then there was the inevitable question: Do you think Tiger Woods is done?
Even at Palm Desert Greens, where the membership tends to skew a little older and perhaps a little more Canadian than the typical Tiger Woods fan, there is interest in whether Woods as a competitive player is finished.

But how to answer the question. We know that Woods has not played in a tour event for 15 months, and it’s another few weeks before he is set to play in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas which he hosts. We know there have been a few false starts by Woods in his comeback, most recently at the Safeway Open last month where he committed to play, then withdrew the week of the event.
We know that Woods hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2013. He hasn’t won a major since 2008. He is currently ranked outside of the top 200 in the world after being No. 1 for a record 683 weeks (not consecutively).
None of that trends well for Woods, especially one month from his 41st birthday. Some evidence is out there on social media that Woods is indeed playing down in Florida and playing well. But we also know it is a long journey from playing well in a practice round and putting your game on display in a big event, even if that big event is an unofficial one.

At this point, as weird as this sounds, it is up to Tiger Woods to prove to us that he is healthy and he is over those chipping yips and that he can keep his driver straight when he swings hard. This is a guy with 79 career tour wins and 14 majors, but now it really is up to Woods to prove the doubters wrong. He has to show up where he says he is going to play and actually play. Playing well would help.
So for now, the answer to the questions at Palm Desert Greens is you have to assume Woods is done as a competitive player more than a year after he last played. And you have to hope that the best player of the last generation is ready to prove everyone wrong.