AUGUSTA, Ga.

Golf superstar Tiger Woods is back, and he says he believes he can win.

A little more than a year after nearly losing his leg in a car crash, Tiger is planning to play this week in The Masters. The five-time champion at Augusta National made the announcement Tuesday morning. He was slated to play nine more practice holes Wednesday before making a final decision, but will be doing so with the intention of playing when the tournament starts Thursday, April 7.

“As of right now,” Tiger said on Tuesday, “I feel like I’m going to play.”

Asked if he believes he can win, he said, “I do.”

“I can hit it just fine,” Tiger added. “I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s now, walking’s the hard part. This is not an easy walk to begin with. Now given the condition that my leg is in, it gets a little more difficult. And 72 holes is a long road. It’s going to be a tough challenge and a challenge that I’m up for.”

Tiger is scheduled to tee off Thursday at 10:34 a.m. with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. That threesome plays again Friday starting at 1:41 p.m.

Thursday’s opening round would mark the first time Tiger competes against the world’s best players since Nov. 15, 2020, which was the final round of that year’s pandemic-delayed Masters.

He had his fifth back surgery two months later and was still recovering from that on Feb. 23, 2021, when he crashed his SUV over a median on a suburban coastal road in Los Angeles and down the side of a hill.

Tiger’s injuries from that crash were so severe that doctors considered right leg amputation, before reassembling the limb by placing a rod in the tibia and using screws and pins to stabilize additional injuries in the ankle and foot.

“It’s been a tough, tough year ... but here we are,” Tiger said.