Tiger Woods will compete in the Masters

Tiger Woods, who has been on hiatus from the PGA Tour since February to work on his game, announced Friday he will play in the Masters next week.

“I’m playing in the Masters,” Tiger said on his website Friday afternoon. “It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there.

“I’ve worked a lot on my game and I’m looking forward to competing. I’m excited to get to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s support.”

Woods was back practicing at Augusta National on Friday after he played a full practice round Tuesday.

Woods, a four-time Masters champion and 14-time major winner, was spotted hitting balls on the driving range Friday and the Golf Channel said Woods was getting ready to play a round.

Woods last appeared in a PGA Tour event in early February, when he withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego due to ongoing back problems.

This week, Woods dropped out of the top 100 in the world golf rankings for the first time since 1996.

Woods underwent back surgery in March 2014 and missed the Masters, a tournament he won in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005. He played only four more official events last year, missing the cut in the Quicken Loans National, placing 69th in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, withdrawing from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and missing the cut in the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

This year, Woods missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open where he shot a career-worst round of 82, before pulling out of the tournament at La Jolla. He subsequently announced he would not return to action until he is ready to “compete at the highest level.”

Woods’ hiatus kept him out of two of his regular stops, the Honda Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Woods, 39, owns 14 major championships, the most recent being the 2008 U.S. Open. The all-time record of 18 major wins is held by Jack Nicklaus.