Tiger Woods makes surprise White House visit ahead of PGA Championship

Unfortunately for golf fans, Tiger Woods won’t be teeing it up at the 2025 PGA Championship next week. But the 15-time major champion did make a notable surprise appearance this week, not at a PGA Tour event, but at the White House in Washington D.C. Here’s what we know.

Tiger suits up for White House

On Friday night, May 8, U.S. Senator Jim Banks of Indiana broke the news on X. Banks posted a photo of himself standing next to Woods at the White House. Along with the photo, Senator Banks wrote, “Met @TigerWoods at the White House today! ⛳️🇺🇸”

Woods is decked out in a navy suit in the photo, along with a light blue shirt and a darker blue tie.

It is not known why Woods made the trip to Pennsylvania Avenue, or whether he met with President Donald Trump while at the White House. Woods made no mention of the trip on his own social media channels.

But Woods did make a previous trip to the White House earlier this year, and that visit had an important agenda.

Woods, PGA Tour reps meet with Trump, PIF governor

On February 20th, Woods, along with Adam Scott and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, met with Trump and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the White House. The group was attempting to further negotiations between the Tour and PIF, which operates LIV Golf.

At first, the reaction to the meeting was positive. Woods, Scott and Monahan released a joint statement following the meeting, thanking everyone involved:

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“We have just concluded a constructive working session at the White House with President Trump and H.E. Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we have initiated a discussion about the reunification of golf. We are committed to moving as quickly as possible and will share additional details as appropriate.

We share a passion for the game and the importance of reunification. Most importantly, we all want the best players in the world playing together more often and are committed to doing all we can to deliver that outcome for our fans.”

However, at the Players Championship in March, Monahan did little to quell concerns that negotiations had stalled following the White House meeting.

“We’re doing everything that we can to bring the two sides together,” Monahan said in his Players Championship press conference. “That said, we will not do so in a way that diminishes the strength of our platform or the very real momentum we have with our fans and our partners.”

Tiger and Vanessa Trump

One other recent development that may have inspired Woods’ trip to the White House on Friday has to do with his personal life.

On the evening of March 22, Tiger confirmed the news of his new relationship with girlfriend Vanessa Trump, writing, “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together. At this time, we would appreciate privacy to all those close to our hearts.”

Vanessa Trump is the ex-wife of President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. She is also the mother of the president’s granddaughter, Kai Trump, who is a burgeoning golf social media star.

Tiger Woods and the 2025 PGA Championship

After undergoing surgery last September, Woods hoped to return to competition this year in a handful of big events.

He was scheduled to make his season debut at February’s Genesis Invitational, but Woods withdrew following the death of his mother, Tida.

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Woods did participate in the inaugural season of TGL, the new indoor golf league he helped found.

Then, on March 11, Tiger fans received some more bad news. Woods announced that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon. He underwent surgery to repair it, and said at the time, “I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab. Thank you for all the support.”

Despite an April Fools’ joke suggesting otherwise, Woods missed the 2025 Masters due to his recovery. He will also miss next week’s 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.