Woods, who gave up on his round following his tee shot at the 12th, told American television on Thursday that speculation he would be forced to miss the Masters for the first time was wrong. "I'll be there," he said. "Don't worry about it. I took a few days off. I'll start hitting balls tomorrow … The stiffness is gone."

Woods also said he remains hopeful of recovering in time for next week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill – his traditional final warm-up for the year's first major championship.

Woods, a 14-times major champion, continues to chase the all-time record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, but has not won a tour-sanctioned event since November 2009 in Australia. He has not missed a Masters since making his debut as an amateur in 1995.

The left achilles tendon injury caused him to miss two majors last year. His withdrawal at Doral was the second time in 10 months that Woods has had to pull out of a tournament because of the same issue. He also retired after scoring a 42 on the front nine at the Players Championship last May, and went on to miss three months of play.

Woods said after Sunday's withdrawal: "In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time I decided to do what I thought was necessary."

source: guardian