Tiger hopes to play 1 tournament per month by 2024
Tiger Woods has laid out a plan for the 2024 season, saying the best-case scenario for his return to golf is to potentially play one tournament a month.
Woods proposed a scenario of playing the Genesis Invitational in February and then finding a tournament for March before the majors start in April.
“I have to prepare myself for all that. I think this week is a step in that direction,” he said Tuesday at a press conference at the Hero World Challenge, the golf tournament he organizes annually in the Bahamas. “I’m just as curious as all of you to see what happens. … I no longer have any of the pain I had at Augusta or before in my ankle.”
Woods withdrew from the Masters on April 9 due to plantar fasciitis and underwent subsequent ankle surgery that month. The foot condition also caused him to withdraw from the 2022 Hero World Challenge.
The 15-time Majors champion said that while he is pain-free in his ankle, his pain has moved to his knees and back. Despite this, Woods “absolutely” still believes he can win tournaments.
Woods, 47, will tee off for the practice round of the Hero World Challenge with Justin Thomas on Tuesday at 11:52 a.m. ET. The 23rd edition of the event kicks off on November 30 and features several PGA stars, including Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler.
Talk of the PGA Tour working to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund before the Dec. 31 deadline dominated Tuesday’s news conference. Woods said both sides are working together “without animosity.”
PGA Tour players were blindsided on June 6 by the PGA’s framework agreement with the PIF, owner of LIV Golf, to merge their commercial operations. PGA golfers remained in the dark about the deal and reportedly later sent PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan a letter demanding an overhaul of the tour’s power structure.
In response to player unrest, the tour in August added a sixth player chair to the player directors on the all-powerful PGA Tour policy board: Woods.
When asked if he has confidence in Monahan after the framework deal, Woods said: “I have confidence in Jay and what he could do in the future and what can’t happen again.”
Tiger Woods the board member
Woods doesn’t seem sure what professional golf will look like a year from now. He was not necessarily confident that a PGA Tour deal with PIF would be done by the deadline, and the best he gave in terms of contingencies was to say that there were “other options” if no deal come.
But most important was how authoritative he was as a new board member, clearly stating that players need more power in the tour’s decision-making process, and how frustrated he was that Monahan went behind his back to make the framework agreement with PIF. Woods seems incredibly committed to his new role and is making sure he’s steering golf in the right direction, even if there’s still a very dark road ahead. — Brody Miller, Golf Staff Writer
Why he’s making a comeback
The most important detail on Tuesday was that Woods is not in any pain. He hasn’t played much golf and has no idea how this week will go, but that part can be worked out in the coming months. The key for Woods is being able to caddy for his son Charlie and walk 90 holes in the next week without pain, something he hasn’t been able to say for years. When asked if he thinks he can still win events, he confidently said, “Absolutely,” so you know the root of it is that he just wants to keep competing.
His statement that he hopes to play one tournament a month next season is shocking considering the horrific car accident he had two years ago and the surgery he underwent this spring. No, Woods will never be the star he once was, but if he can be healthy and play without pain, there remains a future for Woods to play golf on the big stages. – Miller
Required reading
(Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty)