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mark schlabach
Tiger Woods He turned 50 on Tuesday, making the 15-time major championship winner eligible to compete on the PGA Tour Champions Circuit after recovering from his latest health setbacks.
Woods has not publicly said whether he intends to play on the former Senior PGA Tour, which allows golfers to use carts and has a 54-hole format at most tournaments outside the 72-hole majors.
Last season marked the first time that Woods did not compete in a single tournament on the PGA Tour. He was scheduled to compete at the Genesis Invitational, but withdrew, saying he was not ready to compete following the death of his mother Kultida on February 4.
Woods then ruptured his left Achilles tendon while training and practicing at home in Florida for the Masters in March. It is believed he had his seventh back surgery on October 10 to replace a disc in his lower back, which was causing pain and mobility problems.
During a press conference at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on December 2, Woods said he had only recently started putting and chipping and was no closer to being able to regain full speed.
“Once I get a feel for the practice, explosion, play, recovery process, I can assess where I need to play and how much I need to play,” Woods said. “I’m so far away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment.”
Had it not been for Woods’ numerous injuries, he may still have had plenty of competitive golf left in him after reaching the half-century mark. Phil Mickelson He became the oldest major championship winner at age 50 when he won the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
Injuries have been Woods’ biggest obstacle in recent years. He has played in only 11 PGA Tour tournaments over the past five seasons after suffering serious injuries in a car accident outside Los Angeles in February 2021. Woods had multiple “open fractures” in his lower right leg, and during emergency surgery a rod was placed in his tibia and screws and pins were inserted in his foot and ankle. He later told reporters that surgeons almost had to amputate his right leg.
After withdrawing from the 2023 Masters ahead of Sunday’s restart due to weather delays, Woods said a plantar fasciitis problem in his foot has worsened. He had surgery 10 days later to treat post-traumatic arthritis in his right ankle, then underwent lumbar spine microdecompression surgery for a nerve impingement in his lower back in September 2024.
Woods last competed in a PGA Tour event in July 2024, when he missed the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. He has not played four rounds in an official tournament since finishing 60th at the 2024 Masters.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner last finished in the top 20 at the 2019 Masters, winning which he earned his fifth green jacket.
“I want to play golf again,” Woods said earlier this month in the Bahamas. “I haven’t played golf in a long time. It’s been a tough year. A lot of things have happened to me on and off the golf course that have been tough. And so is my passion [is] Just to play, I haven’t done that in a long time.”
Even as Woods recovers from his latest setbacks, his friends on the PGA Tour are rooting for him to reach 50.
“I knew he was old. I didn’t realize he was that old,” gary woodland That said at this month’s PNC Championship, which Woods skipped. “Tiger’s impact, obviously, on the game of golf is amazing. What he’s done on the course with his foundation, I wish he was here too. Hopefully, he’s recovering to a point where he’ll be back because we all miss him. It’s all better when he’s out.”
south african Trevor ImmelmanThe 2008 Masters champion joked that he reminds his children to send Woods a Christmas card every year for his influence on golf.
,[Tell] If you’re going to send a Christmas card every year, you better send it to Tiger because without him we’d be in a different situation,” Immelman said.
At the Hero World Challenge, Woods joked that he would probably play 25 events on both tours after turning 50.
“I guess that should cover most of the year, right?” Woods said. “No, I’m just waiting for this [getting] Back to play again. Let me do that and then I will decide what the program will be.”
The PGA Tour Champions schedule begins Jan. 22-24 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii. The first major, the Senior PGA Championship, will be played April 16-19 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, a week after the Masters.
Woods is the only golfer to win the U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open, so he may have some inspiration heading into the U.S. Senior Open, which will be played July 2-5 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
“I think we should potentially challenge him,” jim furyk Said at this month’s Skechers World Champions Cup. “I don’t think he can hang around here in these three-round tournaments. He might get angry and make a lot of plays.”
steve flashWoods, a four-time winner on the senior circuit, suggested that Woods plan his PGA Tour Champions schedule in advance to give tournament organizers adequate time to prepare.
“On our tour, it’s a big challenge for our tournament directors if he decides to play here, but he waits until the Friday before the event,” Flesch said. “It’s a big difference. There will be a lot of people coming to see Tiger Woods because he hasn’t been to any of these markets. We hope he plays in some of them.”
