As expected, Tiger Woods was peppered with questions surrounding his health, recovery, and timeline for his latest comeback following yet another back surgery in October. But he sounded like a man excited about the prospect of simply holding a club again.
On Tuesday, Tiger met with the media at his Hero World Challenge in Albany, Bahamas, and told the small contingent of scribes that he was finally cleared to chip and putt last week. The journey to getting his game back has officially begun.
“Well, (the recovery’s) not as fast as I’d like it to be,” Tiger said with a smile. “(The surgery) was a good thing to do, something I needed to have happen, and it just takes time and dedication to the rehab process….It’s been slow. Not able to do much on a disc replacement, let it set.
“Can’t really do much. Now, we got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, started strengthening, and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven’t been able to do. Just letting the disc kind of set.”
Now, when he’s ready to get back inside the ropes, he’ll have a decision to make regarding where he’s going to play. Tiger turns 50 at the end of the month, opening up the possibility of playing with his old buddies on the PGA TOUR Champions. Will he give the senior circuit a go?
“Yeah, I’m probably going to play probably 25 events on both tours, and I think that should cover most of the year, right?” Tiger joked.
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“No, I’m just looking forward to—just let me get back to playing again, let me do that, and then I’ll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be. I’m a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level. Unfortunately, I’ve been through this rehab process before; 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.”
Why does he want to mount another comeback?
“Come back to what point? I’d like to come back to just playing golf again,” Tiger said. “I haven’t played golf in a long time. It’s been a tough year. I’ve had a lot of things happen on and off the golf course that’s been tough.
“And so my passion to just play, I haven’t done that in a long time. Just play. So I’ve had to sit on the sidelines for a number of months, and most of this year, and quite frankly end of last year.”
As for some other quick notes, Tiger and Charlie won’t be playing in the PNC Championship later this month. Tiger said just chipping and putting “wouldn’t be fair” to Charlie and another pairing that could take that spot instead.
When asked about the 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy, Tiger said, “No one’s asked me about it.” I’m sure that will change at some point in the near future. And on the TGL front, he won’t be ready for the start of the year, but he hopes he can play “here and there” at the end of the season.
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Every time we hear from Tiger, I’m reminded of how much I miss him being around. There’s no question that this game is better with him in the mix. I just hope his recovery goes smoothly—cross our fingers for no setbacks—and we can see him back out there at some point in 2026.
For now, let’s enjoy his tournament in the Bahamas this week. I know I will, especially since I’m about to be under a half-foot of snow. I’ll have to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures vicariously.
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