Tiger Woods set to return

Despite not giving any indications of an imminent return to Golf in his (apology) speech a couple of weeks ago, it would now appear that Tiger Woods is likely to be back playing Golf, either before, or at The Masters in Augusta.

The word is that Woods is back in training, and back practising on the range, this has seen a dramatic cut in the odds on him participating in this years Masters, with him now at 2/5 on Betfair to compete in this years event starting on 8th April.

The bookmakers are clearly expecting him back as well, with Paddy Power (5/2), William Hill (3/1) and Ladbrokes (4/1), all making him their respective tournament favourite.

It makes sense Woods coming back in time for the Masters if he really wants to beat Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors, we already know how much he enjoys playing at Augusta.

He would also want to have plenty of Golf under his belt before playing the US Open and (British) Open Championship. This year the Open is at St Andrews, where Woods has won 2 of his 3 Championships. Also, his US Open victory in 2000 came at Pebble Beach Links, which is where it is to be held this year,

Bearing in mind his track record on these courses it would be highly unlikely that Woods will pass up these opportunities to try and close the gap on Nicklaus.

A further twist has seen Tiger offered a $75 Million, 5 year sponsorship deal by Irish bookmakers Paddy Power, bucking the trend of sponsors dropping him.

His management company IMG have apparently rejected the deal, but it is understood that the Irish Bookmakers are still keen to sponsor Woods and a new offer is set to be tabled soon.