Jupiter Links enters its final regular-season TGL match Tuesday night with a playoff berth still within reach. A win over The Bay Golf Club on March 3 would clinch a spot in the postseason, which begins March 17. The stakes are clear for a team that missed the playoffs in TGL’s inaugural season.
However, Tiger Woods won’t be part of the lineup.
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The 15-time major champion ruled himself out for Jupiter’s regular-season finale, meaning he will complete the entire indoor league regular season without competing. Woods, 50, had hoped to join his team for at least one match late in the 2026 campaign. If he plays at all this season, it would have to come in the playoffs, provided Jupiter qualifies.
Woods has attended every Jupiter match at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He co-founded TGL alongside Rory McIlroy and has remained visible throughout the season, even as he continues to recover from October disc replacement surgery, his seventh back procedure.
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“The disc replacement has been one thing,” Woods said. “I’ve had a fused back and now a disc replacement, so it’s challenging.”
He added that he is hitting full shots, though consistency remains an issue.
“I’m able to,” Woods said. “Not well every day, but I can hit them.”
Woods last competed in the 2024 PNC Championship in Orlando, where he and his son, Charlie, lost in a playoff to Bernhard and Jason Langer. His most recent PGA Tour start came at the 2024 British Open. At the Genesis Invitational earlier this year, Woods did not rule out a return at the Masters and hinted that PGA Tour Champions could become an option.
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Tiger Woods of Jupiter Links walks across the green before a TGL match against New York Golf Club at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“My body has been through a lot,” he said recently. “It’s each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing.”
Without Woods, Jupiter will rely on Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner in the regular-season finale. The Bay lineup features Ludvig Aberg, Min Woo Lee, and Wyndham Clark.
Jupiter can clinch a playoff berth with a win. An overtime result would require help from other outcomes. The team’s postseason hopes remain alive, but its co-founder’s competitive return is still uncertain.
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For Woods, the focus remains long-term. A potential playoff appearance could offer a controlled setting for his first competitive swings since surgery. Beyond that, attention may turn toward April and the Masters, a tournament he has won five times, and where his status “has not” been ruled out.
For now, Jupiter plays on without him, chasing a playoff spot and leaving open the possibility that Woods’ 2026 season could still include a competitive chapter.
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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.