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<\/a><\/p>\nAnd, even as this season is heading toward its conclusion at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix next month, one potentially tour-altering question hangs in the autumn air.<\/p>\n
Will Tiger Woods, who will turn 50 on Dec. 30, play senior golf and, if so, how much will he play?<\/p>\n
That question was clouded with Woods\u2019 Saturday announcement that he underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery on Friday in New York City. It was another in a long series of surgeries for the 15-time major champion, who underwent his sixth back surgery 13 months ago and did not play a PGA Tour event in 2025 after rupturing his Achilles tendon in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter experiencing pain and lack of mobility in my back, I consulted with doctors and surgeons to have tests taken. The scans determined that I had a collapsed disc in L4\/5, disc fragments and a compromised spinal canal. I opted to have my disc replaced yesterday, and I already know I made a good decision for my health and my back,\u201d Woods posted Saturday on social media.<\/p>\n
The PGA Tour Champions doesn\u2019t need saving \u2013 insiders suggest it\u2019s not a severe drain on the tour\u2019s bottom line \u2013 but Woods\u2019 participation, no matter how limited, would be a massive boost.<\/p>\n
Though he did not offer any indication of when he hopes to return to golf, the latest surgery will likely sideline him through the end of the year, if not longer. He was not previously listed as a competitor in the Hero World Challenge he plays host to in December and it raises doubts about his availability to join son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship also in December.<\/p>\n
Woods\u2019 Jupiter Links team will play its first TGL match on Jan. 13.<\/p>\n
The question of Woods\u2019 potential presence on PGA Tour Champions has been put on pause for the moment, though his contemporaries hope he will eventually join them from time to time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt actually would suit him very nicely out here,\u201d P\u00e1draig Harrington said before news of Woods\u2019 latest surgery surfaced.<\/p>\n
The PGA Tour Champions doesn\u2019t need saving \u2013 insiders suggest it\u2019s not a severe drain on the tour\u2019s bottom line \u2013 but Woods\u2019 participation, no matter how limited, would be a massive boost.<\/p>\n
Interest. Eyeballs. Excitement.<\/p>\n
Woods has hinted at his willingness to play a few senior events, if only to tee it up with some of his longtime friends while being allowed to ride in a cart, but he has always been reticent to reveal his playing schedule in advance.<\/p>\n
Three years ago at Augusta, Woods joked that he was getting closer to the time when \u201cI get the little buggy and [can] be out there with Fred [Couples].\u201d<\/p>\n
When it was recently announced that Woods had signed a partnership agreement with human resources company Insperity, speculation jumped to whether he will play the Champions event hosted by the company in Houston, though the official announcement made no such reference.<\/p>\n
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Tiger Woods\u2019 participation would be welcomed by PGA Tour Champions players. Tim Heitman, Getty Images<\/p>\n
The fact that Woods has only played 10 official events since the start of 2022 tempers the expectations but his window to be competitive is continuing to shrink.<\/p>\n
Scott McCarron recalls being in his first or second year on the PGA Tour when he found himself in a conversation with Jack Nicklaus.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says, \u2018Hey, I have one regret in my life.\u2019 I\u2019m like, oh my gosh, what\u2019s that? He says, \u2018I wish I would have played more on the Champions tour, because once it\u2019s over, it\u2019s over,\u2019\u201d McCarron said.<\/p>\n
How much Woods will potentially play on the PGA Tour Champions will depend on several things:<\/p>\n
His health, particularly his back and his right leg that was badly damaged in an auto accident; his desire; and his involvement in other endeavors.<\/p>\n
At Seminole Golf Club earlier this year, Ernie Els said he talked with Woods about what competitive golf looks like on the senior side, going so far as to map out a potential schedule Woods might play, understanding Woods still wants to win more major championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want him out here and I really do believe when he plays out here, he\u2019s going to really flourish again,\u201d Els said near Prestonwood\u2019s 18th green, having posed for a final few photos with his amateur partners<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you got a bit of competition \u2026 it\u2019s guys that he\u2019s beat up his whole life. These guys don\u2019t really go away, like little hungry dogs, they\u2019ll be biting, but it\u2019ll be good. And [he] can drive a cart without any hesitation and play golf courses where we can make some birdies. Get his confidence back and I think that little bit of play under the gun will really hold him in good stead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the injection of $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises by the Strategic Sports Group and the announcement of Brian Rolapp as the new CEO earlier this year, change \u2013 both real and potential \u2013 has been a theme.<\/p>\n
PGA Tour Champions is not exempt and Woods\u2019 occasional presence could be the biggest change.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like [the tour is] in pretty good shape. I know they talk about shrinking everything. I know the new CEO wants to produce some numbers, but we\u2019ve got great sponsors,\u201d Els said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk about Fortune 500 companies, we have them [10 are title sponsors] here, and look at the fun we have with these guys. So I don\u2019t believe our sponsors are going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, SAS extended its sponsorship for another three years and 75 percent of the tour\u2019s 28 events are locked in through 2028 with Charles Schwab as the umbrella sponsor through 2033.<\/p>\n
The recent news that the players\u2019 pension fund is being reduced understandably drew complaints from several players but it demonstrates SSG\u2019s intention to capture a double-digit annual return on its investment.<\/p>\n
But when Rolapp mentions scarcity as a priority, it\u2019s fair to assume he\u2019s not talking just about shrinking the PGA Tour schedule. Q-School for seniors has been eliminated and tightening the 28-event schedule is sure to be evaluated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a sweet spot,\u201d Harrington said. \u201cThere\u2019s a sweet spot in all of these things. I definitely prefer less tournaments, more competition for those less tournaments, so that \u2026 only the best tournaments survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recent news that the players\u2019 pension fund is being reduced understandably drew complaints from several players but it demonstrates SSG\u2019s intention to capture a double-digit annual return on its investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what these guys want,\u201d Els said of the tour\u2019s investors.<\/p>\n
There is also the longer-term question of whether the current generation of PGA Tour players will have the desire to play tournament golf after they turn 50 given the millions of dollars many of them are making annually now.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a down-the-road question but will Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth want to play after they turn 50? Rory McIlroy has already said something will have to have gone \u201chorribly wrong\u201d for him to play competitive senior golf.<\/p>\n
Before that, there is the Tiger question, a tantalizing subject as he so often is.<\/p>\n
As a teasing autumn chill blew in last week, the notion of what a 50-year-old Tiger Woods might do was hard to ignore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d love it out here,\u201d Love said. \u201cI hope he does [play]. We\u2019d even make carts mandatory so he can come right out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2025 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cart awaits Tiger Woods on PGA Tour Champions, but surgery has put his plans on pause. Tim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,87204,101,8937,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-200773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-pga-tour-champions","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tiger-woods","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2226381840-700x467.jpg\")
A cart awaits Tiger Woods on PGA Tour Champions, but surgery has put his plans on pause. Tim Heitman, Getty Images<\/p>\n