Former world No. 1 Tiger Woods has registered to play in the US Open in June, the US Golf Association confirmed Monday. The news comes as reports emerged that the golfer played his first holes of golf Monday. Woods had until Wednesday's deadline to register for the tournament, which takes place at Oakmont Country Club this year, but completed his registration three weeks ago. The 40-year-old has not played at all this year since undergoing two procedures on his back in 2015. Woods' agent Mark Steinberg told ESPN that the 14-time major winner's registration for the tournament was "simply procedural." "No reason to read anything into this," Steinberg was quoted as saying. Woods also registered to play in the US Open last year before backing out after failing to fully recover from back surgery. Earlier this month he ruled himself out of the Masters at Augusta, saying that while he had begun hitting balls again, he would not be fully fit for the tournament. "I've been hitting balls and training daily, but I'm not physically ready," Woods said in a statement. "I've said all along that this time I need to be cautious and do what's best for my long-term health and career... I'm absolutely making progress, and I'm really happy with how far I've come, but I still have no timetable to return to competitive golf." Woods played his first stretch of golf holes since last August Monday at a course opening in Montgomery, Texas. Woods was present for the opening of Bluejack National Golf Course, which he helped design. He warmed up in front of a crowd, hit a ceremonial tee shot and then played a few holes with longtime friend and fellow Major champion Mark O'Meara. "I haven't been out here playing like this. I hadn't played any holes until today," Woods told reporters. "I know people have said I've played holes back at Medalist, but I haven't. This is actually the first time I've played holes since Wyndham. It's been a while." Multiple videos of the 14-times Major champion hitting golf balls have surfaced this year and Monday's short round showed further improvement. "I'm just progressing," he said. "You saw how I was going at it today, nice and smooth. That's harder than I have been going at it the last month. Just gradually progressing. We're just trying to progress and I'm doing that."
