‘He’s Gonna Play’ - Former Pro Predicts Woods’ Masters Return

With The Masters taking place next week, there’s much anticipation for one of the most beloved events on the calendar. However, plenty of the attention is on Tiger Woods – and he’s not even confirmed he’ll be playing yet.

There has been mounting speculation – and evidence – that Woods is pulling out all the stops to appear at the first Major of the year following a long spell away from competitive golf after a car accident last year. The five-time winner of the tournament has recently been filmed hitting a drive at Medalist Golf Club with his caddie Joe LaCava and – importantly – without a cart. Naturally, this created plenty of opinion from well-known figures in the game about whether Woods would tee it up at Augusta National next week. These have included those convinced Woods can make it and others who are less sure of his chances.

Former professional Colt Knost falls firmly into the former category. Speaking to Sean Zak and Dylan Dethier on the popular podcast The Drop Zone, the 36-year-old explained why he thinks LaCava’s appearance alongside Woods at Medalist Golf Club is significant: “He’s gonna tee it up, I think. Hearing Joe LaCava’s been down in South Florida, he’s been playing Medalist and walking — I know Joe and Tiger are close, but I don’t see Joe flying down to Florida just to carry his bag and hang out.”

Knost, who has made a name for himself as the host of his own podcast, GOLF's Subpar, since retiring from competitive golf in 2020, also thinks no news is good news when it comes to Woods’ potential appearance next week. He said: “If he knew he wasn’t going to play, he would have already told us.”  

Whether Knost is correct remains to be seen. However, speculation has intensified since Woods’ Medalist practice, with reports of his plane landing at Augusta Regional Airport, and others stating he then played at Augusta National with his son, Charlie, and Justin Thomas. Still, with Woods not obliged to make a final decision until as late as the day of the tournament, it could be a while longer until we get confirmation either way.