Tiger Woods Noncommittal For 2021 Masters

The Masters without Tiger Woods? Hard to imagine, but from the sounds of things, it could be a reality.

Woods underwent back surgery in December, and he provided a status update during Sunday's PGA Tour Invitational -- a tournament in which he did not participate.

He was also noncommittal about participating in The Masters in an interview with CBS Sports announced Jim Nantz.

"God, I hope ," he told Nantz. "I have to get there first. A lot of it is based on my surgeons, doctors and therapists. Making sure I do it correctly. This is the only back I have. I don't have much more wiggle room left there. I don't know what the plan is. The plan right now is to get the MRI ... and then we start progressing." 

Woods won The Masters two years ago. He said he believes he's about ready to get back on the course.

"I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling fine," he said. "I'm a little bit stiff. I have one more MRI scheduled ... then I can start doing more activities. Still in the gym. Still doing the mundane stuff you have to do for rehab, the little things before I can start gravitating toward something a little more."

Woods underwent his first spine fusion surgery in April 2017, and this latest surgery was a follow-up to that one. Of course, he won The Masters just two years after his first such surgery, so the goal now is to get back after this most recent procedure.

The Masters are scheduled for April 5-11 at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club.