Tiger Woods is returning to the U.S. Open. The USGA announced Thursday that Woods has officially filed his entry for the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in New York. Woods, 42, last played at the U.S. Open in 2015 and missed the cut. He hasn’t made the weekend at the year’s second major since 2013. The U.S. Open is June 14-17 at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, where Woods made his U.S.
Open debut in 1995 as the U.S. Amateur champion. He opened with a 74 and withdrew the next day with a wrist injury. He tied for 17th at Shinnecock in 2004 when he was in the midst of changing his swing.
Woods is coming off his most consistently solid stretch of golf in years. His tie for 32nd at the Masters was the first time he’d successfully completed four rounds at a major since 2015. He finished second at the Valspar Championship and fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods said after the Masters he would take a brief hiatus from tournament golf to focus on recovery.
“I usually take three to four weeks off, throughout my entire career, and usually the clubs are put in the closet and I just kind of get away for awhile,” Woods told reporters. “The run-up to this event is pretty hard and pretty grueling. I pushed myself pretty hard to get ready. And I peaked at it four times over the course of my career and it’s tiring.”
The three-time U.S. Open champion is in the final year of his 10-year exemption for winning the 2008 Open at Torrey Pines.