Brandel Chamblee admits to falling for Tiger Woods' April Fools prank

Tiger Woods briefly convinced one of the top golf analysts that he was returning for the Masters. Brandel Chamblee admitted that he fell for, momentarily, the April Fool's announcement Woods made.

Woods said on his official, verified account on X:

"I can’t believe I am saying this, but a few weeks after rupturing my left Achilles, the sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber plus the explosive lifts my doctors and trainers have me ready to play the Masters next week! Can’t wait! See y’all on the course."

Chamblee wasn't the only one to fall for it, though. Noted sports journalist Jason Whitlock responded to the announcement with excitement and wished Woods luck on his early return.

Generally speaking, Achilles surgeries require months of recovery. The 82-time PGA Tour winner just had the surgery on March 11. It's been less than three weeks since then. That amount of time with this sort of injury suggests he'd be able to finally put some weight on his leg, but far from anything required for even one golf swing.

The overall recovery time takes about six months, so it's highly unlikely that the 15-time Major winner gets back at all this PGA Tour season, let alone in time for the Masters in nine days.

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Golf analyst isn't sure Tiger Woods will ever be back again

ESPN golf analyst Curtis Strange, the same person who once interviewed and tried to humble Woods when he was first coming out as a pro, isn't sure the world will ever see Tiger Woods play competitive golf again.

Tiger Woods may not ever come back the same (Image via Getty)

At his age and with his health history, another major injury to his lower body might be too much to withstand. Strange said via Golfweek:

"I hope he gets back to where he can play. We don't even know if he can play ever again."

As for his recovery now, Strange isn't confident it's going to go well enough to get Woods back in any shape for professional golf:

"It's going badly. But especially here, where he can come back and be comfortable and just be around. The people can't get enough of him. We can't get enough of him. It would be sad that he wouldn't come back here and play in the future, but what the future holds, we have no idea."

Andy North, one of Strange's counterparts, echoed this sentiment:

"I think that the competitor in him – you know, you always think you can rehab. You always think you can come back. You always believe that you can do this."

Despite Woods' probable belief in himself, North said Woods will try to play events after but likely won't be the same, competitive golfer he once was. Tiger Woods struggled to compete before the injury, too, missing the cut in three of five starts last year, finishing dead last in another, and withdrawing from the fifth.