Tiger Woods Doesn’t Rule Out 2026 Masters as He Says He’s ‘Trying’ to Return to Golf Despite 'Challenging' Injuries
Tiger Woods Doesn’t Rule Out 2026 Masters as He Says He’s ‘Trying’ to Return to Golf Despite 'Challenging' Injuries
Anna Lazarus CaplanWed, February 18, 2026 at 9:12 PM UTC
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Tiger Woods
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Tiger Woods is not ruling out a return to the Masters
A five-time winner at Augusta National, Woods is recovering from a recent back surgery and a ruptured Achilles
When he turned 50 in December, the pro golfer became eligible for the PGA Champions Tour, which allows players to use golf carts
Is Tiger Woods ruling out a return to the Masters?
“No,” the 82-time PGA champ told reporters on Tuesday, Feb. 17, ahead of the 2026 Genesis Invitational, where he is the tournament host.
Nearly five years after suffering life-threatening leg injuries in a car accident at the Genesis, Woods is currently recovering from rupturing his Achilles last spring — and healing from his seventh surgery on his back in October.
"I'm trying [to come back], put it that way," Woods, who turned 50 in December, said. "The disc replacement has been one thing. It's been a challenge to — I've had a fused back and now a disc replacement, so it's challenging.”
He continued, joking: "The Achilles was not an issue. I can't dunk a basketball anymore, so I don't have to worry about that.”
And while he hasn’t played in competition since the 2024 Open Championship in July of that year, Woods shared recently that he has been medically cleared to play.
“I’ve been cleared to hit, basically, hit short irons and mid irons,” Woods told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on Jan. 13, before his Jupiter Links GC team lost to New York GC in a televised TGL match. “I haven’t gone any beyond that.”
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At the TGL match, Woods moved gingerly while cheering on his teammates.
Tiger Woods plays his shot from the first tee during their TGL presented by SoFi match against the Boston Common Golf at SoFi Center on Jan. 27, 2025 in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla
Megan Briggs/TGL/TGL via Getty
As the legendary golfer looks to his next steps — and with the Masters a little over seven weeks away — he acknowledges that his “body has been through a lot.”
"It's just one of those things where it's each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing, I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again,” he said.
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In marking his milestone birthday on Dec. 30, Woods also received a gift: He is now eligible to play on the PGA Champions tour, which allows players to use golf carts.
"And now, I entered a new decade, so that number is starting to sink in and has us thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart,” he said. “That's something that, as I said, I won't do out here on [the PGA Tour] because I don't believe in it. But on the Champions Tour, that's certainly that opportunity."
on People
Source: “AOL Sports”
