The former world number one Tiger Woods hopes to make his competitive return to golf next month, after spending more than a year on the sidelines.
The 14-times major winner said he intends competing in the PGA tour event in Napa in California.
Woods has not played competitive golf since the Wyndham Championship in August last year and has been recovering from multiple back surgeries.
Tiger Woods is set to play his first round of competitve golf in more than a year. Photo: Photosport
"My rehabilitation is to the point where I'm comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do," Woods said in a statement posted on his website.
"Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go."
Woods missed all four majors in a calendar year for the first time in 2016, and made just 11 tournament appearances in 2015.
Since the end of 2013, the former world number one has competed in only 18 events on the PGA Tour while being blighted by injuries and poor form, recording just one top-10 during that period along with six missed cuts and three withdrawals.
"It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn't rush it," said Woods, who will celebrate his 41st birthday in December.
The Safeway Open, the season-opening event on the 2016-17 PGA Tour, will be played from Oct. 13-16 at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa.
The greatest player of his generation and arguably of all time, Woods has not won a tournament anywhere since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and his title drought in the major championships dates back to the 2008 U.S. Open.
A 79-times winner on the PGA Tour, he was world number one for a record total of 683 weeks but his form has slipped dramatically in recent years due to injuries and the mastering of a new swing while his ranking has plummeted to a mind-boggling 711th after his long spell on the sidelines.
-Reuters
