Tiger Woods has not ruled out a Masters return
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Question after question had Tiger Woods on autopilot Tuesday morning, a now 50-year-old superstar who has mastered the art of saying many words without divulging many insights. Even questions about his rehab were met with vague generalities. Until he was challenged.
Have you ruled out a return for the Masters?
Woods’ eyes livened up and focused a bit more.
“No.”
Just five months ago, Woods underwent his seventh back surgery. That was seven months after a ruptured Achilles and 13 months after another back surgery. Those injuries are why he missed his Hero World Challenge event in December and why he’s not playing in the Genesis Invitational this week, the PGA Tour signature event he hosts at Riviera Country Club.
Woods confirmed he’s able to hit full shots again, but his recent vertebrae disk replacement has him feeling sore. He referenced the option of playing on the Champions Tour and using a cart to get around. Even if he is not ready to say yes or no to the Masters, he still has no target date for a return.
“It’s just one of those things where it’s each and every day, I keep trying. I keep progressing. I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again,” Woods said.
Woods hasn’t competed in a professional event since July 2024 at the Open Championship, where he missed the cut. He had done the same thing at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. He made the cut at the Masters that April, which at the time set a record of 24 cuts in a row, but finished last.
In his playing absence, Woods has become one of professional golf’s most powerful figures behind the scenes, serving as a PGA Tour policy board player director and vice chairman of the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises. He’s working with new CEO Brian Rolapp and other player directors on a potentially revamped PGA Tour schedule and admitted the PGA of America has “asked me for my input” on the 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy.
That input, Woods implied, might be about whether he wants the job.
“I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said. “I’m trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our tour. That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to figure out if I can actually do our team, our Team USA and our players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup, if I can do it justice with my time.
“Serving on two boards and what I’m doing for the PGA Tour, I’m trying to figure out if I can actually do this and serve the people that are involved and serve them at an honorable level.”
In terms of the potential schedule changes, Rolapp has talked often of more “scarcity” on tour, while other player directors have suggested a reduced 20-event schedule (from 46) that starts after the Super Bowl.
Woods avoided any specifics, but the most concrete detail was that the schedule will indeed look different as soon as 2027. The question is just whether the entire rollout is ready.
“We would like to have it happen in 2027,” Woods continued. “We may have to roll it out over a couple-year period. We may not be able to implement all of it in 2027, but there will definitely be parts of it integrated or changed than from what it is now in ‘26 into ‘27.”
There are many factors and possibilities in play, from moving prestigious events at Pebble Beach and Riviera to later in the year, to balancing TV partner demands and working around major championships. There’s a fear of playing into the fall, where football reigns supreme, but would having substantial standalone events labeled as playoff events be worth playing at a better time of year?
“I think that, one, you’re going to get weather not like this,” he said as it rained outside. “That’s number one. We’re going to have perfect days. It’s always perfect in So Cal here in August. So yes, we’re looking at things like that, looking to go to bigger markets later in the year for the playoffs. Just trying to make our competitive model better, and how do we do that?”
There currently isn’t much concrete information about where the PGA Tour is headed. It’s just clear it’s going to look very different.
“It’s been a lot of moving parts, but it’s been in sync,” Woods said. “We’ve had a lot of information thrown our way, which has been great. Everyone is working collaboratively together.”