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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Tiger Woods said Tuesday that he’s not close to being physically ready to play in PGA Tour tournaments and has a “long way to go” before he’s able to compete against the world’s best golfers again.
Woods, 48, is not playing in this week’s Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event he hosts in the Bahamas.
“I’m not tournament sharp yet,” Woods told reporters during a news conference in the Bahamas. “No, I’m still not there. And these are 20 of the best players in the world, and I’m not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. When I’m ready to compete and play at this level, then I will.”
When Woods was asked whether he still has a desire to compete on tour, he said, “The fire still burns to compete.”
“As far as the recovery process of going out there and doing it again and again and again and doing it consistently at a high level, for some reason, the body just won’t recover like it used to,” Woods said. “That’s part of age and part of an athlete’s journey.”
The 15-time major champion announced in mid-September that he had undergone what is believed to be his sixth back surgery. He said his back injury caused pain down his leg, which became progressively worse during this past season.
Woods has undergone multiple procedures to repair damage in his right foot and leg caused by injuries he suffered in a car wreck in February 2021.
Woods didn’t indicate when he hoped to return to the tour. Last year, the former world No. 1 golfer said he hoped to play once a month. He made five starts on tour in 2024, missing three cuts and withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational because of illness. He finished 60th at the Masters, which was last among golfers who made the cut.
“I didn’t think my back was going to go like it did this year,” Woods said. “It was quite painful throughout the end of the year, and hence I had another procedure done to alleviate the pain I had going down my leg. And so, what are my commitments going forward? Is it once a month? Yeah, I could say that all over again, but I truly don’t know. I’m just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better and really give myself the best chance I can going to next year.”
“As far as the recovery process of going out there and doing it again and again and again and doing it consistently at a high level, for some reason, the body just won’t recover like it used to. That’s part of age and part of an athlete’s journey.”
Tiger Woods
Woods wasn’t asked whether he’ll play in the PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, with his son Charlie in two weeks. He would be able to use a golf cart in that event. He hosts the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles on Feb. 13-16. The Masters, the first major of the season, will be played April 10-13.
“I’m just progressively trying to test it,” Woods said. “Keep making progress, without setting it off. I don’t want to have any setbacks. Just want to keep making progress and give myself the best chance going to next year as possible. I feel like I’m getting stronger, I’m getting more pliable, but I got a long way to go to be able to compete against these guys.”
Woods, who is vice chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board, said the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund were ongoing. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the PIF signed a framework agreement to form an alliance, the deadline for that deal expired Dec. 31, 2023. The sides have continued to negotiate over the past 11 months.
Any potential deal between PGA Tour Enterprises and the PIF would have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
“I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this,” Woods said. “Even if it did, we’re still at the regulations of the DOJ saying it’s giving us [assurance] that it will go through. Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands.
“But we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now. But things are very fluid, we’re still working through it, it’s happening daily. From a policy board standpoint or from an enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they’re constructive. But yes, definitely moving.”
