Tiger Woods was back in front of a microphone for the first time in months. So, naturally, there were plenty of topics to cover. Here’s what he did (and didn’t) have to say..
Tiger Woods can cut a frustrating figure in press conferences.
You wait so long for him to talk to the world that you find yourself desperate for him to say something that might just get us gathering round the proverbial water cooler.
So it was with great anticipation that the world’s media congregated ahead of this week’s Hero World Challenge – the 15-time major champion’s million dollar hit-and-giggle in the Bahamas – to see what he had to say.
Turns out it was quite a lot. But was there much substance? We’ll let you be the judge of that.
Here’s the highlights reel…
On his ongoing recovery from lumbar disc replacement surgery…
“Well, it’s not as fast as I’d like it to be. It was a good thing to do, something I needed to have happen and it just takes time and dedication to the rehab process.
“I just got cleared last week to chip and putt so it’s good. It’s been slow. I can’t really do much [but] now we’ve got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, start strengthening and start doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven’t been able to do [and] just letting the disc set.”
On playing in the PNC Challenge with son Charlie and a potential return date…
“No, it wouldn’t be fair. Not only to my son, but it wouldn’t be fair to another team that could play and could have that experience that we’ve had for a number of years.
“I just started to chip and putt. I just started to lift in the gym. I just started this process. A disc replacement takes time. It’s not as long as a fusion, thank God, but it’s going to take time.
I’d like to come back to just playing golf again. 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.”
On those PGA Tour Champions rumors…
“I’m probably going to play probably 25 events on both tours and I think that should cover most of the year, right?
“No, just let me get back to playing again, and then I’ll figure out what the schedule is going to be. I’m a ways away from 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 practising, exploding, playing, and the recovery process, then I can assess where I’m going to play and how much I’ll play.
“I really haven’t gone in depth of what the schedule looks like on the Champions Tour – except for a few tournaments.”
On his relationship with new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp…
“Brian’s been fantastic. I was part of the search committee that was part of finding him and going through all the different interviews of about nine months to finally land on Brian. An amazing CEO, an amazing leader.
“What he’s done so far in a short time in his leadership skills and his personality and how he handles situations, his calmness, his thoughtfulness, his directness, his transparency – all the things that we were looking for and needed, he has delivered in spades.
On the recent talk of a shortened PGA Tour schedule…
“We’re trying to give the fans the best product we possibly can.
“We’ve torn down and looked at so many different models. It’s been a lot. We’ve talked to title sponsors, we’ve talked to CMOs, we’ve talked to tournament directors, we’ve talked to media partners, we’ve talked to a lot of different people and taken a lot in of what they would like to see.
“Then it’s up to us at the committee to try to put it all together, try to make it work, and keep the players informed to what possibly could happen. And we want their opinions as well. We’re being very transparent with all of this. That’s something that we’ve been very adamant about – this process is the transparency side of it. This is something that’s going to be fantastic for all of the fans, for the players. It could be a financial windfall for everyone.
“But we’re trying to figure out what is the best schedule possible so we can create the best fields and have the most viewership, and also the most fan involvement and what does that look like.
“We’re looking at different timetables of when we start and finish, different tent poles throughout the year and what that might look like. We have some incredibly smart player directors, some independents, and some leaders that have led in change in other sports, so we’re trying to pull all of that together with Brian’s stewardship.
“We are trying to do that in the best way possible so we can introduce this in ’27. I don’t know if we can get there, I don’t know if we will get there, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
On his admiration for World No.1 Scottie Scheffler…
“There’s nothing you can’t not like about Scottie. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
“What he’s doing on the golf course is just incredible. The consistency, day in and day out, the strategy, how he attacks the golf course. You can see him analyze it from the green back – where the flag is, where he wants to miss a tee shot, what club to hit, where the wind is, what side of the tee box he’s to
start off on. It’s truly amazing at how thoughtful he is and strategic he is throughout the entire round.
“On top of that, he doesn’t have lapses in a round like most players do. He’s present for all 18 holes and all shots played, and that’s hard to do.
“And he’s beating the best fields, so that’s something that I certainly can appreciate and I think that I hope everyone else appreciates it as well because you just don’t see this happen very often.
“I truly love watching him hit irons, the shaped shots that he hits, the trajectory, the window changes that he has, the distance control, the miss in the proper spot, the proper spin in certain pin locations. These are all subtle things that mean a lot over the course of 72 holes.”
On the 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy…
“No one’s asked me about it.”
