PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tiger Woods, who last teed it up in a PGA Tour event at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon, was asked point blank on Tuesday at Riviera Country Club if playing in the 2026 Masters was off the table. His answer was blunt.
“No.”
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Woods, serving as tournament host for the 100th edition of what was once known as the Los Angeles Open and is now known as the Genesis Invitational, is not playing this week. He hasn’t played in the indoor TGL simulator league he helped found in 2026, either. The 15-time major champion offered no timetable for a return to the PGA Tour, nor a debut on the PGA Tour Champions, a circuit he’s now eligible to play on after turning 50 this past December.
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One thing he did confirm on Tuesday? He’s still grinding away at home.
“I’m trying, put it that way,” he said.
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Woods added that he is hitting full shots, though not all that well, on a daily basis. He’s also had no health setbacks just four months after he underwent a seventh back surgery this past fall. As for his achilles, which he had surgery for after rupturing it in March 2025, that is not an issue.
“I can’t dunk a basketball anymore, so don’t have to worry about that,” Woods joked.
“As far as the disc replacement, it’s just sore. It takes time,” he said. “Willy Z [Will Zalatoris] 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.”
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While Woods has no target return date, there are some potential spots between now and the Masters that he could—probably worth air quotes here—possibly shake off the rust. There are three PGA Tour Champions events on the schedule between now and then—the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, the Cologuard Classic and the Hoag Classic. Woods hinted that the opportunity to use a cart in competition on the senior tour makes it an option.
As for the PGA Tour, ruling out this week and next (Cognizant Classic), Woods could play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational as a past champion and would certainly be afforded a spot in the Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open or the Valero Texas Open if he wanted one. Woods is not eligible for the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
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