Tiger Woods hopes to play at Masters but can't commit on return date from surgery

Tiger Woods says he's doesn't know when he will return from a fifth back surgery, and he could not give a definitive answer Sunday when asked if he would be at the Masters. "God, I hope so," Woods in an interview during the broadcast of the Genesis Invitational.

Woods, at Riviera to hand out the trophy as the tournament host, had a microdiscectomy Dec. 23. It was the fifth surgery on his back, and the first since a procedure to fuse his lower spine in April 2017.

Woods has not played since he joined 11-year-old son Charlie at the PNC Challenge a few days before his surgery. The next four events are in Florida, including The Players Championship. The latest Woods likely would play, if he's fit for the Masters, would be the Dell Match Play two weeks before Augusta National. 

(Image Credits: AP)