Editor’s note: This article was published before reports of a car accident involving Tiger Woods on Friday afternoon. GOLF is monitoring that story.
Will Tiger Woods play the Masters?
We still don’t know. Woods himself may not know. President Trump has entered his prediction — that Woods will attend but won’t play — but we’ll continue a time-honored tradition of waiting and speculating in the meantime.
To be clear, it will still be the Masters with or without Woods in the field. Scottie Scheffler will enter as pre-tournament favorite, Rory McIlroy will enter as high-profile defending champ, and an entire tier of talented challengers will enter in strong form, from Tommy Fleetwood to Cameron Young to Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg and more. All these tournaments will be played whether or not the Golfer in Red shows up to join them.
But even a half-decade removed from his last trip to contention, Woods’ inclusion in any field means instant intrigue.
There was some extra intrigue, then, when exemptions were released on Friday for the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. While the USGA didn’t publish entrants by name, they did respond to a request about Woods’ participation.
“Tiger has entered the championship, simply to ensure eligibility, but will not make a decision about playing until a later date,” the USGA said via email.
So that’s something.
What’s the latest from Woods himself? Well, he teed it up at TGL on Tuesday, though he hit just a handful of shots as Jupiter Links got drubbed in the finals. But the fact that he was up for that seemed like an encouraging sign. Here’s what he said post-round:
“I’ve been trying. Just, this body is — it doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn’t mean I’m not trying. I’ve been trying for a while. I’ve had a couple bad injuries here over the past years that I’ve had to fight through and it’s taken some time.
“But I keep trying. I want to play. I love the tournament. I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old. It’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years. I’m going to be there either way with The Loop that’s going up there, as well as the Champions Dinner.”
As for when he’ll announce that decision?
“I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I’ll be practicing, playing at home this week and keep trying to make progress.”
Whether or not Woods is ready for the Masters, when might we see him tee it up in 2026? Let’s break it down:
The majors?
If there’s a course Woods would rally for, it’s Augusta National. He’s done it before. He’s trying to do it again. It’s a tough walk but it’s familiar territory; he’s made cuts here for decades feeling good, bad and in-between.
As for the other majors? They’re still his measuring stick for success. He’s still dreaming of another improbable run. So it’s plausible Woods would try to tee it up at the PGA (Aronimink, Newtown Square, Pa., May 14-17) or the U.S. Open (Shinnecock Hills, Southampton, N.Y., June 18-21) or the Open Championship (Royal Birkdale in England, July 16-19). Recent history has shown he’ll make these his priority.
Woods could tee it up any week he wants on the PGA Tour thanks to lifetime status plus a special exemption category. But his most likely tournament appearance — the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, where he’s tournament host — has come and gone. In recent years Woods has sought to find the balance between competitive reps and preserving his body and has leaned in the latter direction; he’s played just two Tour events, the Genesis both times, since 2020 (one T45, one WD).
Is it plausible Woods would add an in-between event to help get in game shape for a major championship? Sure, and we’d love to see it. That just doesn’t have precedent in his post-2021 accident era.
A previous version of Woods might like to tee it up at the Memorial, his old hunting grounds, two weeks before the U.S. Open at Shinnecock. But would this Woods battle arguably the toughest test on Tour, with its small targets, rock-hard greens and brutal rough just as a prep week? That seems unlikely. There’s another potential option, though…
The senior majors?
If you’ve lost track of the senior major calendar, no worries — let’s run through it.
The Senior PGA Championship runs April 16-19 at the Concession in Bradenton, Fla. That’s the week after the Masters; Woods won’t play it.
The Regions Tradition is two weeks after that in Birmingham, Ala., but I’d say we’re more likely to see Woods at the Cadillac Championship that week at Trump Doral — but not particularly likely to see him either place.
The U.S. Senior Open is the biggest and most prestigious of these events and will be played July 2-5; that also sets it two weeks after the U.S. Open and two weeks before the Open, allowing for the top-tier seniors to do it all. In an optimistic world, that tier would include Woods, who values his USGA trophies and would appreciate the bookend to his playing career. His registration demonstrates real interest, even if it’s no guarantee.
The Kaulig Companies Championship is just a week later, July 9-12 at Firestone, Woods’ former domain of dominance. No chance.
The ISPS Handa Senior Open is at Gleneagles in Auchterarder, Scotland July 23-26 just a week after the Open. Again, in a vacuum, it’s easy to imagine Woods wanting to play. But this ain’t a vacuum.
Champions Tour?
Woods is eligible. They’d love to have him. There are relaxed rules and regulations that would allow him to compete more easily. He has expressed an openness to the idea of playing in a golf cart. So where might he appear?
I have no idea — other than one sneaking suspicion that we could see him at the Insperity Invitational at the Woodlands in Texas May 8-10. It’s a three-day event. He could take a cart. It’s the week before the PGA Championship, which means it could serve as a tune-up. And, most interestingly, the title sponsor, Insperity, also appeared on his sleeve beginning this offseason. So we’ll see…
Next winter?
Before we know it we’ll be back to wondering whether it’s possible Woods will play the Hero World Challenge, or the PNC Championship, and whether those things could serve as a springboard for a 2027 comeback.
Dylan Dethier is a senior writer for GOLF Magazine/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in English, and he’s the author of 18 in America, which details the year he spent as an 18-year-old living from his car and playing a round of golf in every state.
