Tiger Woods continues his recovery from back surgery performed last October, but the golf superstar isn’t closing the door on participating in this year’s Masters Tournament.
During a media session on Tuesday before this week’s Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California, where Woods serves as tournament host, reporters questioned whether the April 9-12 Masters was completely out of consideration.
“No,” Woods responded with a broad grin. The golf legend hasn’t competed since failing to make the cut at the 2024 British Open.
The winner of 15 major championships underwent additional surgery in March 2025 to fix a torn left Achilles tendon. In December, doctors gave Woods permission to begin chipping and putting again following his lumbar disc replacement procedure.
Woods indicated his Achilles injury has healed, though his back continues to cause discomfort.
“As far as the disc replacement, it’s just sore. It takes time,” Woods explained. “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.”
Though Woods hasn’t participated in tournament play since July 2024, he remains active in golf administration as a PGA Tour policy board player director and vice chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises.
The 50-year-old golfer faces another major decision regarding potential Ryder Cup captaincy for 2027, revealing that the PGA of America has sought his thoughts on the position.
“Yeah, they have asked me for my input on it, and I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods stated Tuesday. “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.”
Woods previously declined the U.S. captaincy for the 2025 Ryder Cup citing scheduling conflicts and PGA Tour obligations, though he indicated the possibility remained open for future opportunities.
