Tiger Woods plans return to golf for October at Safeway Open in Napa

After going more than a full calendar year without making a single professional start, Tiger Woods hopes to return to golf on Oct. 13 at the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. — the first event of the 2016-17 PGA Tour wraparound season.

He announced the news on his website Wednesday morning.

Woods’ return tour will see the 14-time major winner make a total of three starts to close out 2016. He’ll first make his return at the event formerly known as the Fry’s.com Open, in what is now sure to be one of the must-watch events of the year.

Tiger will next head to the Turkish Airlines Open in Anatalya, Turkey in November — where he’s in the final year of a three-year appearance fee contract that’s netting him roughly $3 million every time he tees it up. He’ll finish up the calendar year at his own event, the Hero World Challenge, in the Bahamas in early December — a comfortable, restricted field event where many speculated he’d first ease back into competition.

Here’s what Woods had to say about the return on his website.

“My rehabilitation is to the point where I’m comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do,” Tiger said. “Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go.

”I’m looking forward to going to California for my foundation event and Safeway. I’m also excited to return to Turkey and Albany. It could be a fun fall.

“It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I 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. But I missed competing. I want to thank all the fans for their kindness and concern. I’ve been a pro about 20 years, and their support has never waned.”

Woods’ last start was in August of 2015 at the Wyndham Championship where he tied for 10th. Back surgery kept Woods out of golf for the entire 2016 season. However, he’ll act as a non-playing, assistant captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Hazeltine next month.

This story will be updated.