Tiger Woods has committed to playing at the PGA Tour's Honda Classic next week in an encouraging indication of his progress in recovering from long-term injury.
The former world number one is competing at the Genesis Open, where he shot an inconsistent opening round of 72 on Thursday.
The 42-year-old is making his latest attempt to return to regular competition following a series of back operations in recent years.
And it appears the 14-time major champion is now confident enough about his condition to enter consecutive events.
.@TigerWoods has officially committed to play in the 2018 #HondaClassic! Welcome back Tiger! https://t.co/Y4Ny3DDKev pic.twitter.com/G2nUR65chi
— #HondaClassic (@TheHondaClassic) February 16, 2018
The announcement about his presence at the Honda Classic was made during Woods' second round in California on Friday.
Held at PGA National Golf Club in Florida, the Honda Classic is an event Woods has never won.
He finished second behind Rory McIlroy in 2012 and was forced to withdraw during the final round in 2014 due to back pain.
That incident was followed by the long-term layoffs and repeated operations that have seen the once-dominant force slide down the rankings to 550th in the world.