He is back swinging a golf club, but Tiger Woods’ place in next month’s Masters field remains a mystery.
Whether or not the 15-time major champion will tee it up in a professional tournament for the first time since the 2024 Open Championship is the question on the entire golf world’s lips.
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Despite conflict raging in the Middle East and the world feeling the pinch of the resulting oil crisis, even US President Donald Trump weighed on Woods’ fitness on Friday morning Australian time.
Speaking to Fox News on the phone, Trump tried to play the role of news breaker.
“I love Tiger, but he won’t be there. Well, he’ll be there, but he won’t be playing in it,” Trump said, when asked who he’d be ‘rooting’ for at this year’s event.
Trump, who perhaps has inside information as Woods is dating his son’s ex-wife, is right that the five-time green jacket winner will be there at Augusta National Golf Club.
He will certainly be present for Rory McIlroy’s Champions Dinner in the clubhouse on the Tuesday night before the tournament begins.
But the 50-year-old is also doing his best to prove the US President wrong and make it to the first tee on the Thursday.
“I’ve been trying,” Woods said earlier this week.
“This body just doesn’t recover like it was when it was 24, 25.
“It doesn’t mean I’m not trying; I’ve been trying for a while. I’ve had a couple of bad injuries here over the past year, I’ve had to fight through, and it’s taking some time, but I keep trying.”
Woods excited fans on Wednesday Australian time with a surprise appearance in the final of TGL – the indoor golf competition created by he and Rory McIlroy that pits the PGA Tour’s best against one another on a simulator.
But in some ways, his efforts in Jupiter Links’ loss to Los Angeles Golf Club created more questions than answers.
The media, players and fans alike have been jumping at any clue.
Woods’ private jet was allegedly spotted at Augusta’s airport earlier this month, sparking rumours online of a pre-Masters practice round to assess how he would fare walking the famous course.
While The Masters website listed him as playing and his appearance in TGL was largely viewed as a sure fire sign that he is intending to play at Augusta.
But hitting every third shot for nine holes, which included putts, and not even getting the chance to play two holes of singles because of the lopsided score line, hardly compares to the rigours of a major championship.
Woods knows that and it is partly why he remained coy when speaking to the media post-match.
“I want to play. I love the tournament,” he said of The Masters.
“I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old. It’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years.
“I’m going to be there either way with The Loop that’s going up there, as well as the Champions Dinner.”
He has another a week to make his ultimate call.
Friday 3 April is the final cut off to be on the entry list for the tournament.
Past champions have the right to play whenever they desire.
So, even though Woods’ world ranking has plummeted all the way to 3,483rd in the world, he’s in if he wants to play.
Tiger Woods of the Jupiter Links Golf Club plays his shot from the first tee during final day of TGL golf tournament, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Palm Beach Gardens Fla. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)Source: AP
Asked if he will leave it to the death knock, Woods again left things open ended.
“I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes. I’ll be practising and playing at home this week, and keep trying to make progress,” he said.
Woods’ progress indicates that he will be back at some stage soon.
But after Achilles surgery last year and two back surgeries in the last two years to add to his lengthy history on the operating table, The Masters simply may arrive too soon.
Ryder Cup star Justin Rose, who competed against Woods in TGL earlier this week, was confident that he would be back soon after he what he showed in the indoor arena in Florida.
“He looked impressive. I don’t think he hit a bad shot. The only bad shot he hit was not a bad shot; it was just too good a shot, almost, with a wedge that went too far. But his fairway woods — everything looked great,” the Englishman said.
“So from a ball-striking point of view — obviously the putting, missed a short one, that’s the bit that kind of shows if you haven’t been competing, so that can hopefully change for him in the not-too-distant future.
“If he can obviously find some consistency in terms of competing, the short game and the putting and the touch will come back quick. He looked in a good spot, but he’s a legend, isn’t he, so to share the floor with him is awesome.”
Tiger Woods hits a practice shot from a bunker before the TGL finals golf tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)Source: AP
But the fitness question simply persists and hangs over Woods’ head like a dark cloud.
“I don’t think he’s physically fit enough to walk 72 holes around that golf course right now,” CBS’ Johnson Wagner said.
“Yes, he can, but under tournament conditions and the pressure and what it takes to get his body right, I just don’t see him playing.
“If he were to play, I think it would be a miracle if he made the cut. I think there’s a better chance of him withdrawing than there is of him playing 72 holes.”
Woods suffered the indignity of withdrawing from The Masters three years ago due to a foot issue following shattering his ankle in a car accident in 2021.
He somehow made the cut at Augusta in 2022, but paid the price for months as he withdrew from the PGA Championship, sat out the US Open and missed the cut at St Andrews.
The problem still lingered when he withdrew in 2023.
Two years ago, Woods played all four majors.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 20: Golf legend Tiger Woods speaks alongside U.S. President Donald Trump during a reception honouring Black History Month in the East Room of the White House on February 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.Source: Getty Images
His 60th place finish at The Masters was the only time he played in the weekend.
Asked that year if he continues to push when he has achieved just about everything there is to achieve in the sport, apart from catching Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victory, because he still think he can win.
Woods replied: “I still think that I can.
“I haven’t got to that point where I don’t think I can.”
If Woods does play, the golf world will know that he still has not reached that point.
There is no doubt he dreams of another fairytale victory like 2019.
Whether it can happen again, however, remains a mystery.