There are rumors that Tiger Woods has been playing great at his home course a week before the Masters

tiger woods masters
tiger woods masters

(David Cannon/Getty Images)

Tiger Woods will play in the Masters, golf insider Tim Rosaforte of GolfWorld predicts.

Woods, who has played in just three tournaments this season, has been on a break from playing competitive golf since he was forced to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open in early February.

While Woods has not made an official announcement about playing at Augusta National, he said two weeks ago when he announced he would not play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational that his "hope" was to be ready for the Masters.

According to Rosaforte, however, the signs and scuttlebutt point to Woods' playing in this year's Masters and going for his fifth green jacket.

Rosaforte's prediction is based in part on hearing about how well Woods is playing, noting "some of the scores he has been posting and the improvement he has shown over the past two weeks" at the elite Medalist Golf Club close to Tiger's home in Florida.

But maybe more importantly, Rosaforte indicates there are signs Woods has rediscovered his confidence.

"Friends in Palm Beach are also saying Tiger has got 'the edge' back," Rosaforte said.

Tiger's close friend and current Golf Channel analyst Notah Begay recently called Woods' chances of playing the Masters "50-50," adding that those odds had improved much over the past three weeks as Woods had shown "steady improvement."

"I think things are really settling," Begay told 120 Sports. "We've had some good discussions over the last week or so and he feels good about" his golf swing.

Woods has always had a flare for the dramatics, and playing well at the Masters just two months after looking completely lost would certainly qualify.

The next sign of Woods' intentions would be if he played practice rounds at Augusta, which Rosaforte says he would not be surprised to see happen this week.

NOW WATCH: Nate Silver has the perfect formula for winning your March Madness bracket



More From Business Insider