Anyone worried that Tiger Woods would play it safe and give nothing away in his press conference ahead of the Genesis Invitational got a bit of a surprise on Tuesday. He did not rule out a possible return at the Masters.
Woods has not played competitive golf since 2024. He missed most of the following year with an Achilles injury and later had back surgery.
That did not come up right away during his media appearance, which just shows how much else has happened for him lately.
However, when questioned about the possibility of him skipping this year’s Masters, Woods gave a concise answer: “No.”
Tiger Woods’ TGL appearance next week still a possibility
Woods mentioned that he is hitting full shots again, but Augusta is a completely different test.
His fitness may become clearer soon. Rex Hoggard suggested on the Golf Channel Podcast that the 15-time major champion could return to TGL by the end of next week.
“Perhaps I’m being too optimistic, maybe I got swept up in it as I’m listening to that 20 minute press conference yesterday. You’re right, he’s the king of the one word answer, and there was a smirk to that. I kind of read it a little bit different. Again, I walked away a little more optimistic than I was, and I think we’ll get an answer sooner rather than later,” Hoggard stated.
“If you look at, and I’m sorry to revert to this because I know it’s not even comparing apples to apples, but his Jupiter Links team is scheduled to play on Sunday night of Cognizant week, so essentially next week, Sunday night, they’re scheduled to play. I think there’s a level of optimism that he might show up there. That might be one of the tells, okay maybe he is ready.
“I know it’s playing a TGL match inside where he’s not walking Augusta. I’m not trying to compare those two things, but it certainly would be an interesting soft opening if the idea is to play The Masters. So we’ll get an answer sooner rather than later. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but I walked away thinking to myself it’s a possibility, and I didn’t go into that press conference thinking it was going to be a possibility of that at all.”
Tiger Woods raises hopes for a Masters return but leaves room for doubt
Woods has left the door open to playing at the Masters, but nothing is certain just yet.
The golf world would love to see him back in action. It is always a big moment whenever he steps onto the course these days.
His only real priority is getting himself fit enough to play, but if he was nowhere near ready, he could have just said he is not hitting full shots yet.
Things can change quickly though. He started the 2025 TGL season looking on track to play at Torrey Pines before taking time away following his mother’s death.
He was then hoping to return for Augusta until an Achilles injury put those plans on hold.
It serves as a reminder that even with the best intentions, setbacks can happen quickly. While Woods may be aiming for a Masters comeback, there are still plenty of hurdles between now and then.
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