Chairman of the boards dishes at the Riv

Tiger offers clues about competitive futures of the tour and his ownself; Stray Shots

Tiger Woods spoke as tournament host at Riviera on Tuesday (Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

Here’s an educated guess: Tiger Woods is going to play in the Masters.

Woods is never one to give up much, and over the years he’s become far more cautious in his approach to returning from injury. His comments typically are not very informative, and it’s quite possible that he is taking his time after yet another back surgery, this time to replace a disk.

But when asked Tuesday if he had ruled out the Masters, Woods had a quick response and a wry smile: “No.”

While that is hardly affirmative, Woods acknowledged that he is hitting full shots again and trying his best to get his competitive game back together.

“My body has been through a lot,” he said during a news conference at Riviera Country Club, where he plays host at the Genesis Invitational. “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.”

Woods said the Achilles injury he suffered nearly a year ago is not the issue. It’s the disk replacement that occurred in October.

“I’ve had a fused back (2017) and now a disk replacement, so it’s challenging,” he said. “And now I entered a new decade [Woods turned 50 in December] and so that number is starting to sink in and has us thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart.

“That’s something that, as I said, I won’t do out here on this tour because I don’t believe in it. But on the Champions Tour, that’s certainly an opportunity.”

If Woods wants to use a PGA Champions Tour event as a warm-up prior to the Masters, the Cologuard Classic March 6-8 in Tucson, Arizona, and the Hoag Classic March 13-15 in Newport Beach, California, would offer opportunities in the weeks prior.

Perhaps a telling sign will be if Woods takes part in his Jupiter Links TGL match on March 1. He has yet to take play in the indoor simulator league this year.

Woods has not played in an official tournament since missing the cut at the 2024 Open at Royal Troon 19 months ago. It was one of just five events he entered that year, including the Genesis, where he withdrew during the first round with an illness. It is the last time he played in a regular tour event.

Last year, Woods entered the Genesis — played at Torrey Pines due to the wildfires that forced the move from Riviera — but then withdrew prior to the tournament in the aftermath of the death of his mother, Kultida. He later suffered an Achilles tendon injury that required surgery and kept him out all summer.

Woods had a few other interesting things to say Tuesday in his capacity as a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board and the chairman of the future competitions committee looking into restructuring the PGA Tour’s schedule.

“I thought I spent a lot of hours practicing in my prime. It doesn’t even compare to what we’ve done in the boardroom,” Woods said. “It’s been challenging. We’re trying to do the right thing. We’re making some great strides.”

While Genesis and the PGA Tour announced an extension of tournament sponsorship through 2030 on Tuesday, it’s rumored the Los Angeles event could be among those that move to later in the summer, potentially even as a FedEx Cup playoff event.

“You’re going to get weather not like this,” Woods said of the rains that poured down on Riviera Tuesday. “That’s number one. We’re going to have perfect days. It’s always perfect in SoCal here in August. So yes, we’re looking at things like that, looking to go to bigger markets later in the year for the playoffs. Just trying to make our competitive model better, and how do we do that. I think that is one of the options (moving to later in the year) with Genesis. That certainly is on the table.”

While some specifics of the future competition committee’s recommendations are expected to be announced by tour CEO Brian Rolapp before the Players in March, Woods said it might take time to roll things out.

“We may have to roll it out over a couple-year period,” Woods said. “We may not be able to implement all of it in 2027, but there will definitely be parts of it integrated or changed from what it is now in ’26 into ’27.”

All those board duties have played a part in Woods putting off any decision about potentially captaining the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2027 at Adare Manor in Ireland.

“They have asked me for my input on it, and I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said. “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 USA … justice with my time.

“Serving on two boards and what I’m doing for the PGA Tour, I’m trying to figure out if I can actually do this and serve the people that are involved and serve them at an honorable level.”