Tiger Woods returns to competitive golf for TGL championship match
Some major Tiger Woods news broke Monday evening.
It had nothing to do with the Masters – not directly anyway.
The 50-year-old golf legend will play competitively for the first time in more than a year as his Jupiter Links team takes on Los Angeles in the second match of the best-of-three TGL Finals Tuesday night in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
TGL is a high-tech indoor golf league that uses simulators and real surfaces, founded by Woods, Rory McIlroy and Mike McCarley in 2022. Although a TGL match does not present the same physical challenge as a PGA Tour event, the team event could serve as Woods’ first step to playing at Augusta National April 9-12.
Woods last played competitively on March 4, 2025, in Jupiter’s final TGL match of the season. He missed the entire PGA season last year while recovering from back surgery in 2024 and surgery in March 2025 for a ruptured Achilles tendon. Last fall, he underwent disc replacement surgery in his lower back.
A five-time Masters winner, most recently in 2019, Woods is listed as a 2026 invitee on the tournament website but has not yet confirmed his participation.
Last month at the Genesis Invitational, a reporter asked Woods if the Masters was “off the table” for him this year. Woods simply replied, “No.”
In the opening match of the TGL Finals on Monday night, Jupiter lost 6-5, with Kevin Kisner narrowly missing a 20-foot birdie that would have won the match. Woods was there as team captain and supporter, roles he has held all season.
After the match, Woods told reporters he felt bad for his players – Tom Kim, Max Homa and Kisner – but expressed optimism that Jupiter could still come back and win the title. If Jupiter wins Match 2, a third match will take place immediately after to determine the TGL champion.
“We might have two more games,” Woods said. “We didn’t get out of there.”
Woods did not mention the possibility of moving into the next day’s lineup. However, after the press conference, TGL released a graphic on X showing what appears to be Woods’ torso and the words “He’s back,” along with viewing information for Tuesday’s match.
Moments later, Jupiter Links posted a graphic on X featuring a photo of Woods and the quote “I’m back.”
Woods will replace Kisner in the lineup for at least Game 2. It is unclear whether Woods would participate in a possible third game.
Last week, after Jupiter clinched a spot in the final, Woods told reporters he had tried to play the entire season “but it just didn’t work out that way.” He added that the players had coped well without him and suggested he did not foresee any changes before the final.
“I really don’t want to mess up the lineup,” Woods added. “I just want these guys to keep playing.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
