{"id":385549,"date":"2026-01-23T05:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T05:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/385549\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T05:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T05:41:09","slug":"pga-tour-golfer-hints-tiger-woods-is-very-close-to-making-his-long-awaited-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/385549\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA Tour golfer hints Tiger Woods is very close to making his long-awaited return"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JAKE FENNER, US SPORTS WRITER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 21:22 EST, 22 January 2026 | Updated: 21:24 EST, 22 January 2026 <\/p>\n

A recent move from golf icon Tiger Woods<\/a> is being seen as a possible hint that he could be returning to regular competition soon.<\/p>\n

Woods has not competed in a tournament since the 2024 Open Championship<\/a> at Royal Troon and hasn’t completed a full four rounds since The Masters<\/a> that same year.<\/p>\n

With the golfer recovering from a seventh back procedure, many are curious if he’ll ever return to playing the sport competitively again.<\/p>\n

Well, PGA Tour Champions player Tommy ‘Two Gloves’ Gainey believes a recent decision Woods made is pointing towards a comeback.<\/p>\n

Woods turned 50 in December<\/a>, which would allow him to compete on the formerly-branded Senior Tour. It would also afford Woods the use of a golf cart, which would help with what is reported to be his biggest obstacle: walking a full 72 holes.<\/p>\n

‘I do think he’s going to play out here,’ Gainey said, referring to the Champions Tour.<\/p>\n

\"Champions <\/p>\n

Champions Tour golfer Tommy Gainey believes Tiger Woods could join the senior circuit soon<\/p>\n

\"Gainey <\/p>\n

Gainey noted Woods recently signed a deal with Insperity, which now features on his shirts<\/p>\n

\"Insperity <\/p>\n

Insperity sponsors a tournament on the senior tour, which Woods has been linked with joining<\/p>\n

Gainey expanded, pointing to a recent brand deal that Woods signed to indicate an ever-approaching return.<\/p>\n

‘[Woods] signed a deal with Insperity. You could see it on his sleeve, so that’s good news,’ he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I will let people think maybe what they want to think on that, but that tells me that if he’s able to play, he’s going to play in that one.’<\/p>\n

The ‘one’ Gainey hinted at is the Insperity Invitational – an event on the Champions Tour taking place in early May at The Woodlands Country Club just north of Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n

Of course, that event would take place after the 2026 edition of Woods’ favorite tournament, The Masters.<\/p>\n

It would also be long after Woods’ simulator golf league, TGL, wraps up its second season.<\/p>\n

Woods’ lengthy absence has him on the verge of losing his spot in the Official World Golf Ranking<\/a> – considering it’d be two years this July since he last competed.<\/p>\n

However, an appearance on the Champions Tour would rectify that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n PGA Tour golfer hints Tiger Woods is very close to making his long-awaited return<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By JAKE FENNER, US SPORTS WRITER Published: 21:22 EST, 22 January 2026 | Updated: 21:24 EST, 22 January…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[97,5904,217,101,8937,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-385549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-dailymail","tag-golf","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tiger-woods","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385549","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=385549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}