Several media outlets have reported that Tiger Woods will make his highly anticipated return to competitive golf at the season's first major championship.
Refuting an earlier New York Post report that targeted Woods' return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks, FOXSports.com led a pack of media outlets pointing to a season debut at Augusta National instead, where Woods would be playing for the first time since the fall of 2009.
A source close to Palmer told FOXSports.com earlier Thursday that they had not heard anything about the possibility of Woods teeing up at Bay Hill, a course Woods loves, in a tournament he has won six times -- including last year.
His early morning accident the day after Thanksgiving led to Woods admitting marital infidelity. He has been in a self-imposed break from golf.
Woods held a 14-minute press session on February 19, at which he didn't answer any questions. That figures to not be the case upon his return to the PGA Tour, but Woods could find a gentler crowd at the Masters, where only accredited media will be permitted and galleries are among the most respectful in golf.
According to the earlier New York Post report, Woods has sought out the professional advice of Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary to President George W. Bush, to craft the game plan of his return to the game.
If Augusta is the intended destination for a return, Woods will face a course he dominated earlier in his career, but also one he has not won on since a playoff victory in 2005. He has gone four years without capturing a green jacket, the longest streak of his career.
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