Feb 17 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods, still recovering from the back surgery he had last October, may not have a target date for his long-awaited return to competition but made clear on Tuesday that he had not yet ruled out competing in this year's Masters.
Woods, speaking to reporters ahead of this week's Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California, where he is the tournament host, was asked whether the April 9-12 Masters was off the table.
"No," Woods, who has not competed since missing the cut at the 2024 British Open, said before unleashing a large smile.
The 15-times major champion, who also had surgery in March 2025 to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon, got clearance last December to resume chipping and putting for the first time since undergoing the lumbar disc replacement surgery.
As for his Achilles, Woods said it is no longer an issue but the back remains sore.
"As far as the disc replacement, it's just sore. It takes time," said Woods. "My 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."
Despite having not competed since July 2024, Woods hasbeen keeping busy as a PGA Tour policy board player director and as a vice chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises.
The 50-year-old Woods is now trying to decide if he wants even more responsibility as he said the PGA of America asked for his input on the 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy, and from his answer he suggested they wanted to know if he wants the job.
"Yeah, they have asked me for my input on it, and I haven't made my decision yet," Woods said on Tuesday. "I'm trying to figure out what we're trying to do with our tour.
"That's been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to figure out if I can actually do our team, our Team USA and our players and everyone that's going to be involved in the Ryder Cup, if I can do it justice with my time."
Woods turned down the U.S. captaincy for the 2025 Ryder Cup due to time constraints and responsibilities to the PGA Tour but added at the time that it did not mean he would never lead the team in the future.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis)
