Tiger Woods is not entered in the 144-player field for The Players Championship, which begins next week at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass with 48 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Woods had until Friday evening to decide if he would participate, but sent strong signals during an interview at Tuesday’s TGL event that he was unlikely to enter. This is the final year of his automatic eligibility for the tournament, earned with a win at the 2019 Masters.
Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler will attempt to become the first three-time winner of The Players since Jack Nicklaus (1974, 1976, 1978), and the first player to win a PGA TOUR event three consecutive years since Steve Stricker (John Deere Classic, 2009-11).
Woods cited the recent death of his mother, Kultida, and his work on the PGA Tour policy board as limiting factors to his desire to work on his golf game.
“This is the third time I’ve touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven’t really gotten into it,” Woods told Sports Illustrated. “My heart is really not into practicing right now. I’ve had so many other things to do with the tour and trying to do other things.
“Once I start probably feeling a little bit better and start getting into it, I’ll start looking at the schedule.”
The last official tournament Woods played was a missed cut at the 2024 Open Championship last July.
Woods, continuing to recover from a 2021 car crash, underwent a sixth back procedure in September, passed up the Hero World Challenge, then joined his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship in December.
–Field Level Media
