Tiger Woods practises at Augusta National for second day running before Masters

Tiger Woods practised at Augusta National for the second day running as he stepped up his preparations for the 86th Masters on Monday.

Woods has not played in a top-level event since being involved in a horrific car crash in February 2021.

The 15-time major winner, who feared shortly after the accident that his right leg would have to be amputated, competed in the PNC Championship with son Charlie in December.

The 46-year-old played a practice round at Augusta last week and nine holes on Sunday, before which he said he would make a “game-time decision” on whether he will tee off in Thursday’s first round.

Woods began his warm-up on the putting green before heading to the short game area and then to the range itself, where he hit balls before heading to the course.

Earlier in the day, one player who can empathise with what Woods has been through had taken the same route, two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal.

Olazabal first triumphed at Augusta National in 1994 but later that year was struck down by a debilitating ailment in the joints of his feet which left him in so much pain that he had to crawl to the bathroom.

Sidelined for 18 months, Olazabal feared he might need a wheelchair for the rest of his life until German doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt concluded that the pain was coming from his back, not his foot.

Olazabal returned to action in 1997 and won an emotional second Masters title two years later, so the 56-year-old is delighted that Woods appears increasingly likely to join him in the field this week.

“In a way I know what he’s been going through,” Olazabal told the PA news agency ahead of a practice round at Augusta National.

“When you cannot walk, when you cannot do things and you’re full of pain