Tiger Woods Gives Intriguing Update on Playing the Masters

The five-time Masters champion didn't rule out teeing it up in two months in Augusta, saying he is hitting full shots and progressing in recovery from back surgery.

Tiger Woods met the media Tuesday at the Genesis Invitational and said he is making progress in his recovery from disk replacement surgery last fall. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tiger Woods has a busy schedule these days that doesn’t include much golf due to his recovery from disk replacement surgery last fall.

But he hasn’t ruled out returning at the Masters.

Woods would not commit to a playing timetable during a news conference Tuesday at Riviera Country Club, where he answered a bevy of questions about his hosting the Genesis Invitational, a title sponsorship renewal, a potential Ryder Cup captaincy and his role as a member of the Future Competitions Committee, which is looking at significant changes to the PGA Tour schedule.

As far as resuming his own golf career, Woods was typically vague.

“It’s just sore,” Woods said of his back surgery which was his seventh in just over 10 years. “It takes time. Willy Z [Will Zalatoris had disk replacement surgery in May] went through it, and it took him a while to come back. I'm a little bit older than Willy Z. It’s probably going to take me a little bit longer.

“My body has been through a lot. 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.”

Asked if he’s hitting full shots, Woods said: “I’m able to. Not well every day, but I can hit them.”

And when asked if he’d ruled out playing in the Masters in April, Woods said “no.”

The 15-time major champion, who made his first start in a PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992 at Riviera, typically doesn’t give up much but he was unlikely to rule out the Masters, either.

In recent years, Woods has taken to underplaying his ability and then surprising.

Four years ago at this same tournament—a year removed from the car crash that severely damaged his right leg—Woods gave no hint that he’d return to competitive golf anytime soon. He played in the Masters.

Woods said the Achilles injury he suffered nearly a year ago is not the issue. It’s the disk replacement that occurred in October.

“I’ve had a fused back [2017] and now a disk replacement, so it’s challenging,” he said. “And now I entered a new decade [Woods turned 50 in December] and so that number is starting to sink in and has us thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart.

“That’s something that, as I said, I won’t do out here on this tour because I don’t believe in it. But on the Champions Tour, that’s certainly an opportunity.”

Where Tiger Woods could possibly get reps before the Masters

If Woods wants to use a Champions Tour event as a warm-up prior to the Masters, the Cologuard Classic (March 6-8) in Tucson, Ariz., and the Hoag Classic (March 13-15) in Newport Beach, Calif., would offer opportunities in the weeks prior.

Perhaps a telling sign will be if Woods takes part in his Jupiter Links TGL match on March 1. He has yet to take part in that indoor simulator league this year.

Woods is also balancing duties as a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board and PGA Tour Enterprises Board as it forges plans for a new schedule.

He’s also weighing a decision to possibly be the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain in Ireland, with an announcement on the captaincy expected sometime this spring.