Tiger Woods to make first-ever appearance at this exclusive event

The pro-member at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, is one of golf’s most exclusive events. Annually held the day after the PGA Tour’s stop in nearby Palm Beach Gardens, the event draws an elite crop of pros each year. Regulars include Rory McIlroy — whose dad Gerry is a Seminole member and his partner —, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Tony, Finau, Nelly Korda, Ernie Els, Matt Fitzpatrick and more.

Woods, despite moving to nearby Jupiter Island 13 years ago, will be making his first appearance at the event. He’ll be partnering with PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh in a group with — you guessed it — Justin Thomas and partner Mike Walrath.

Aside from the professional field, the list of members competing is also quite notable, including seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, PGA Tour policy board members Jimmy Dunne III and Ed Herlihy, former NBA player Shane Battier and former USGA head Mike Davis.

However, Woods will be the biggest name in the field as he makes his first start in competition — albeit not on the PGA Tour — since withdrawing during the second round of the Genesis Invitational last month due to illness.

Woods had an eventful week at Rivieria as he made his first PGA Tour start of the year and first official start since the Masters last April. He unveiled his new apparel brand, Sun Day Red, to start the week before taking on the duties as tournament host. He shot a one-over 72 in the first round, highlighted by a stunning shank on the 18th hole that broke the internet. He then pulled out mysteriously after just six holes in Friday’s second round due to what his manager later confirmed was the flu.

The appearance of fire trucks and an ambulance outside the Rivieria clubhouse further fueled the chaos. Woods was not present at the trophy ceremony two days later as he recovered.

However, Woods appears to have recovered to play in Monday’s one-day event. The appearance comes as Woods did not enter next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, an event he’s won eight times, most recently in 2013. However, he’s only played the event once since his last victory there, finishing T5 in 2018.

The 15-time major winner stated last December at the Hero World Challenge, his charity event in the Bahamas, that he intended to play one tournament a month in 2024 after playing just five events in two seasons following his February 2021 car crash. Unless the Pro-Member counts toward that, the other March event that Woods could potentially play is the Players Championship in two weeks at TPC Sawgrass.

If he doesn’t play at Sawgrass, he likely won’t make another PGA Tour start until the Masters.

And while Woods will be at Seminole Monday, not in the Pro-Member field for the second-straight year are any LIV Golfers. Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia all played in the event in 2022, before LIV’s launch, but were omitted from last year’s field. According to Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch, that decision came from Dunne, the Seminole president, who joined the PGA Tour board earlier in 2023.

However, Dunne was one of the masterminds behind the bombshell June 6th framework agreement between the PGA Tour and Sauid Public Investment Fund, LIV’s parent. The final agreement is currently still being negotiated.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.