Steve DiMeglio

USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday Tiger Woods attended his daughter Sam’s third-grade class at Limestone Creek Elementary School in Jupiter, Fla., for Career Day.

He apparently did not tell the class he was a retired golfer.

The 14-time major champion announced on his website Wednesday that he is targeting a comeback this year. Woods, who hasn’t played a competitive round on the PGA Tour since August 2015 when he finished in a tie for 10th in the Wyndham Championship, hopes to play in the Safeway Open, Oct. 13-16, at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif. The tournament marks the opening of the 2016-17 PGA Tour season.

Woods, who had two surgeries to his back in the fall of 2015, also said he intends to compete in the Turkish Airlines Open, Nov. 3-6, in Antalya, Turkey, and the Hero World Challenge, Dec. 1-4, at Albany in the Bahamas, a tournament that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.

“My rehabilitation is to the point where I'm comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do,” said Woods, whose last of 79 Tour titles came in the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. The man who has been world No. 1 for more weeks than anyone has fallen to 711th in the world rankings due to his inactivity.

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“Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go.

“ … It could be a fun fall.”

Woods, who has dealt with injuries to his back, left knee, elbow, neck and wrist and missed considerable playing time in the past, said it has been difficult to miss tournaments but he was “smart about my recovery and didn't rush it.”

“It was great spending time with my children Sam and Charlie, and also working on a lot of projects including golf-course design, the upcoming 20th anniversary of my foundation and my book about the 1997 Masters,” Woods said. “But I missed competing.”

World No. 1 Jason Day, who has built up a relationship with Woods and frequently chats with him, said he knew Woods was close to returning.

“I'm looking forward to seeing him play again, seeing what the state of his game is,” said Day, who is at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana playing in this week's BMW Championship. “There's probably a lot of anticipation to see how the state of his game is and I'm definitely looking forward to watching those tournaments and seeing how his body holds up and how the mental side and obviously the golf side of things hold up as well. ...

“I think the hardest thing for him is just to try and get the rust out and really get back to game ready sharpness, which is obviously a difficult thing to do. Although we're expecting big things from him, I don't expect too much from him, even though he is Tiger Woods. … It should take a few tournaments for him, but hopefully he gets it back pretty quickly ... and it would be fun to play against him when he's at his best.”

Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy also knew Woods was close to making his latest comeback. McIlroy saw a notification in his phone after his pro-am round in the BMW Championship alerting him to Woods’ intentions for the Safeway Open.

“I'm sort of glad I'm not there that week … it's going to be a bit of a circus,” McIlroy said. “ … I missed the buzz that he creates at tournaments. He brings an aura and an atmosphere to a tournament that no one else in golf can bring. ...

“He's really taken the conservative approach and I think that's the right approach and it would be great to see him give it one last shot for the next sort of half a decade or whatever it's going to be and go from there. I think everyone's excited to have him back and hopefully he can get back on the course and stay healthy for a prolonged period of time and give it one last go.”

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