Tiger paired with Louis Oosthuizen for Masters start

Tiger Woods is paired with 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Chile's Joaquin Niemann for the first two rounds of the Masters in pairings released Tuesday.

Woods said Tuesday that he plans to play in the 86th Masters, making an epic return only 14 months after suffering severe right leg injuries in an automobile accident.

The 15-time major champion will tee off in his 24th Masters appearance at 10:34 a.m. (1434 GMT) Thursday in the 14th of 31 groups and tee off Friday at 1:41 p.m. (1741 GMT) in the third-to-last group of the day.

Woods was hospitalized for weeks and unable to walk for months after a car crash in February 2021. He later said he was lucky to have survived and to have escaped with both of his legs.

Walking the course will be the major issue for 46-year-old Woods, who seeks a sixth Masters green jacket to match the record set by Jack Nicklaus.

Oosthuizen, 39, was the 2012 Masters runner-up and last year finished second at the US Open and PGA Championship and third at the British Open.

Niemann, 23, won his second US PGA title in February at the tournament hosted by Woods at Riviera in Los Angeles.