If it feels like we’ve been asking a version of this question for over a decade, well, that’s because we have. Woods has been in a rhythm of surgery and comeback since 2014, with some of those comebacks having gone better than others.
This time around is different, given the circumstances; in March Woods was involved in a rollover crash near his home on Jupiter Island, he spent time in inpatient treatment and later pled no contest to a reckless driving charge, which resulted in a five-year suspension of his driver’s license.
Woods has been spotted a few different places since then. In June he spoke briefly as the PGA Tour announced its revamped schedule. In September he showed at a Stanford football game and then appeared at the Nexus Cup, an event he hosts in New Jersey. And in October he showed at the TGR Jr. Invitational on the Monterey Peninsula in California. He’s hit balls in range-clinic settings. But he hasn’t yet spoken about his absence or his potential comeback.
We haven’t seen Woods in a stroke-play event since the Open Championship in 2024. We saw him in just one TGL match in 2026. So where will we hear from him, how eager is he to make his competitive return, and when will we see him play?
Some clues lead us to this non-comprehensive list of possibilities:
Hero World Challenge (December 2026)
This is where we’ll see Woods next, and where we’ll hear from him, too — he always gives a pre-tournament presser at the Hero in the Bahamas. It’ll be interesting how much he chooses to share about all of the above (and all of the below).
There’s also still room for him to play; the Hero still has three “TBD” slots in its 20-player field. Count Kevin Kisner among those who thinks he’ll play. (More on Kisner in a minute.)
PNC Championship (December 2026)
This is another place we’ve seen plenty of Woods in recent chapters of his playing career; despite varying levels of health he’s rallied to tee it up alongside his son Charlie. The PNC has the benefit of being just two rounds, plus it’s a scramble. This will be their final chance at a win before Charlie finishes high school (he’s a senior and committed to Florida St.) so perhaps Tiger has it circled on the calendar.
TGL (December 2026)
Enter the final roster announcements for TGL — which include Woods as part of Jupiter Links’ five-man squad — and enter Kisner, Woods’ ex-teammate, who said he was told that Woods “wants to play.”
“Rob [McNamara], Tiger’s guy, he text me a long text last week, I think,” Kisner said on the ‘Fore Play’ podcast last week. “Just telling me what they did on their decisions, how they were moving around and what players were going to do, and that Tiger wanted to play a full schedule…”
A full schedule! If you want to see Tiger, TGL seems like your best bet. As for Kisner’s full Tiger-related prediction?
“He’s going to play both,” he said. “He can’t have any more setbacks injury-wise. The way he was swinging and moving on the range, I mean, the guy loves to compete. Come back, get your feet wet at the Hero, play with Charlie in the Father/Son, play some TGL, get ready for Augusta.”
Genesis Invitational (February 2027)
This feels like a longshot, but it’s worth mentioning because, as at the Hero, Woods serves as host. The Genesis is also the only non-major PGA Tour event Woods has played in the last five years; in 2023 he finished T45 and in 2024 he withdrew with an illness.
Masters (April 2026)
If he’s playing competitive golf anywhere, it’ll be here. Before the incident in March, Woods was reportedly getting ready to make a run at the Masters — everything we’ve seen from his playing career suggests that getting ready for Augusta National will be his top priority.
Insperity Invitational (April 2026)
Here’s where we’ll do a little dot-connecting. Woods will turn 51 in December; 2026 was the year he was expected to make his PGA Tour Champions debut. That obviously never happened. But if there’s a Champs event that makes the most sense, it’s this one. Woods quietly signed an endorsement deal with Insperity in 2025. Insperity then appeared as a Jupiter Links sponsor. His Pebble Beach event is officially titled The Tiger Woods Invitational presented by Insperity. And when the 2027 PGA Tour Champions schedule was released, it included “The Insperity” at the Woodlands in Texas.
Seems as likely a debut spot for Woods as any.
U.S. Open (June 2026)
Golf’s most brutal test may not seem like a logical place for Woods to take his talents — nor his fused spine — but this year’s tournament is at Pebble Beach, which certainly makes it more likely. Pebble is iconic. It’s also the site of one of Woods’ greatest triumphs, plus plenty of other heroics. And it’s a slightly shorter, more precise test than some of its brawnier counterparts on the U.S. Open schedule. (If this were at Winged Foot, we’d feel less certain.)
U.S. Senior Open (July 2026)
Woods has conquered USGA events at every level, from the U.S. Junior to the U.S. Am to the U.S. Open, which leaves exactly one championship in his sights. Woods had registered for the 2026 edition before his latest setbacks. Now we’ll see when he makes his debut.
One higher-up at the USGA teased Woods’ appearance at the 2028 edition at Crooked Stick, but it’s also plausible we’d see him in 2027 at Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla. His reasoning:
“There have only been two people in the history of our game that have won the U.S. Amateur, the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open: Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s Chief Championships Officer. “Tiger’s won the Am and the Open; he’s also won the Junior Am. He’d be the only one to ever do that. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s important to Tiger, and I would expect that he would be here at Crooked Stick.
Tiger Woods Indy bound?
The 2028 U.S. Senior Open is at Crooked Stick Golf Club. I connected with the USGA’s John Bodenhamer about Tiger playing in the Hoosier State.
The 2027 Open is at the Old Course at St. Andrews, which Woods has long cited as his favorite course in the world. I wrote above that if there’s one place Woods would rally to play, it’d be Augusta National — but the same could be said for a return visit here. When Woods missed the cut in 2022 he wondered if he’d be back.
“I feel like I will be able to play future British Opens, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to play long enough that when it comes back around here,” he said.
