Tiger
Woods
played his first stretch of golf holes since last August on Monday at a course opening in Montgomery, Texas, fueling speculation that he could return soon.
Woods
was present for the opening of Bluejack National Golf Course, which he helped design.
The former world number one warmed up in front of a crowd, hit a ceremonial tee shot and then played a few holes with longtime friend and fellow Major champion Mark O'Meara.
"I haven't been out here playing like this. I hadn't played any holes until today,"
Woods
told reporters.
"I know people have said I've played holes back at Medalist, but I haven't. This is actually the first time I've played holes since Wyndham. It's been a while."
Woods, 40, last competed at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina last August before back surgeries ended his year.
Multiple videos of the 14-time Major champion hitting golf balls have surfaced this year and Monday's short round showed further improvement.
"I'm just progressing," he said. "You saw how I was going at it today, nice and smooth. That's harder than I have been going at it the last month. Just gradually progressing. We're just trying to progress and I'm doing that."
The Golf Channel reported that
Woods
could compete at the Wells Fargo Championship early next month but
Woods
and his team have maintained there is no planned return date.
REGISTERS FOR OPEN
Woods has registered to play in June's US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania but has not set a timetable for his return to the PGA Tour.
The United States Golf Association confirmed on Monday that Woods registered for the year's second major on April 4, well ahead of Wednesday's deadline.
While the 14-time major winner has registered for the June 16-19 US Open, there is no guarantee he will be at Oakmont, one of the most difficult courses on tour.
Speculation, however, has been mounting that the three-times US Open champion could make his PGA Tour return within the next month.
There have been multiple media reports that the 40-year-old American has been ramping up his practice routine while at home in Florida and could make a return to the PGA Tour as early as May 5-8 Wells Fargo Championship.
Woods has not won a major title since he clinched the 14th of his career at the 2008 US Open and his form has slipped dramatically in recent years due to injuries and the mastering of a new swing.
His top-10 finish at the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship in August, following a dismal 2014-15 season in which he missed three cuts in the majors, gave him encouragement before his health again intervened.
Three weeks later, he had a second microdiscectomy surgery to alleviate pressure on a disc in his lower back, before needing another procedure on October 28 on the same area.
Woods' world ranking has plummeted to 486th and earlier this month he missed the Masters for only the second time since his tournament debut in 1995.