Tiger Woods, the renowned 15-time major champion, continues to navigate a challenging road to recovery following a series of injuries and personal losses. The 36-year-old golfer’s most recent appearance in a PGA Tour event was the Open Championship. That happened on the patio of Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland in July 2024. Since then, he has never made it through four rounds in an official tournament after placing 60th at the 2024 Masters.
In March 2025, Woods tore his left Achilles tendon as he increased the intensity of his workout routine. This injury forced him to withdraw from the rest of the 2025 tour season. Though originally slated to make his debut at the Genesis Invitational, he stepped back, focusing on getting back to full strength.
To compound these issues, Woods had to go through the death of his mother, Kultida, on February 4, 2025. This personal loss only layered on top of his difficulty returning to race-ready shape. On October 10, 2025, she underwent her seventh back procedure in New York. This surgery forced him to miss an entire year of the sport.
Despite these disappointments, Woods is as involved and invested in the game of golf as ever. He is chairman of the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee. He turns 50 and becomes eligible to compete on the PGA Tour Champions circuit next season. This new opportunity is an exhilarating development for him as he approaches his 50th orbit around the sun on December 30, 2025.
Woods doesn’t have many answers given his current state as we enter new territory. As of last week, he’d just gotten back to chipping and putting. In an interview, he expressed a desire to return to competitive golf but remains uncertain about when that might happen.
“I’d like to come back to just playing golf again,” – Tiger Woods
He acknowledged the frustrations of the rehabilitation process, stating, “Unfortunately, I’ve been through this rehab process before.” His focus is now on incremental progress. “It’s just step by step. Once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I’m going to play and how much I’ll play,” he explained.
Woods officially ruled himself out of playing with his son, Charlie, at the upcoming PNC Championship. Unfortunately, he will miss the premature start of the TGL indoor golf season. That season opens on December 28, 2025.
Looking ahead to the future, Woods does not lose sight or hope for his return. He humorously remarked on the lengthy timeline for recovery: “I think that should cover most of the year, right?”
As Woods continues to heal and adapt to his new circumstances, he remains committed to improving the sport of golf. “We’re trying to give the fans the best product we possibly can,” he stated. And if we’re able to provide the consumers, the fans, the best product possible, I think that allows us to return more to the players that have equity in the tour, we can return more to them.
Leave a Reply