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.
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.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.
his seventh in just over 10 years . “It takes time. Willy Z 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.”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.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 and now a disk replacement, so it’s challenging,” he said. “And now I entered a new decade 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.”If Woods wants to use a Champions Tour event as a warm-up prior to the Masters, the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Ariz., and the Hoag Classic 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.Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.
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