Woods, who turned 48 just two days ago, has provided the golfing world with rare appearances since the 2021 single-car crash that almost cost him his leg, including a miraculous comeback at the 2022 Masters.
But 2024 offers the hope that it could be the year of the return of Tiger as we know him. A packed schedule, lack of concern over the walk, and usual grit and determination.
And it could all begin on February 15 at Riviera Country Club for the Genesis Invitational outside Los Angeles. Woods himself said the Hero World Challenge when outlining his plan for the year that it would likely start with the Genesis, which like last month’s event in the Bahamas, is hosted by the 15-time major winner and benefits his TGR Foundation.
It’s also one of the three Tour events that Woods competed at in 2023, as he teed it up just outside Los Angeles for his first professional event since missing the cut at the 150th Open at St. Andrews the year before.
2024 promises to deliver the most of Tiger Woods fans have seen since 2019
The past year was again marred by injuries, forcing the great to withdraw from the Masters
The 15-time major winner made his competitive return at the Hero World Challenge
However he may be unable to resist the temptations of Torrey Pines and instead opt to kickstart his Tour calendar in January at the Farmers Insurance Open on January 24-27.
One thing is for sure, however, and that is that Woods will be returning to his beloved Augusta National at the beginning of April.
Woods will be back at the Masters from April 11-14 for an albeit unlikely quest for a record-equaling sixth Green Jacket.
From there, the PGA Championship takes place the following month at Valhalla, which will be irresistible given it’s the same course where he lifted the Wanamaker Trophy in 2000 as part of the ‘Tiger Slam’
As a former winner of both events, he holds a lifetime exemption to both, while a trip across the Atlantic to tee it up at Royal Troon is also on the cards in July with his three lifts of the Claret Jug granting him access to the Open until the age of 60.
But the US Open in between the US PGA and the Open is a sticking point. For the first time in 27 years, Woods doesn’t currently hold an automatic exemption to the major, which is held at Pinehurst this year.
But that problem is easily rectifiable. Woods is likely to receive a special exemption from the US Open organizers, allowing the three-time winner to return after not playing the major for the past three years and fulfill his event quota for the month of June.
‘That, I do not know,’ he said at the PNC Championship, when asked about an exemption to the tournament. ‘I don’t know what’s happened or what Jack [Nicklaus], what happened over his career, or Tom [Watson] or anybody else.
Woods will be back at the Masters from April 11-14 in search of a sixth Green Jacket
As a three-time winner of the Claret Jug, Woods has access to the Open until the age of 60
Woods completed the ‘Tiger Slam’ at Valhalla – this year’s US PGA venue – back in 2000
‘But as of right now, no, I’m not in, and whether or not I have to formally ask them or they invite me, or you give me an exemption or I have to go qualify, you know, who knows.’
Jack Nicklaus has received the special exemption eight times, the most in history, while Arnold Palmer has also received five exemptions. Phil Mickelson was the most recent recipient, gaining an exemption in 2021, but it ultimately wasn’t needed after he won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island that year.
Between the Genesis in February and the beginning of major season in April, Woods has multiple events to choose from. He could opt to compete in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando from March 7-10.
But with timing not allowing him much time to recover from the Genesis, the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass from March 14-17 seems more viable.
Despite making only five starts in official PGA Tour events the past two seasons, his fifth Masters victory in April 2019 earned him a five-year exemption into the event in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
The plan becomes murkier following the Open at Royal Troon with Woods’ still limited appearances making it severely unlikely he’ll make the FedEx Cup playoffs through August before the season ends.
However, the Zozo Championship – the site of his last victory on Tour in 2019 – could be an option in October, while a return to the Hero World Challenge and PNC Championship in late November and December are highly likely to be on the schedule like last year.
Woods is pictured at the last US Open he competed in, back in 2020 at Winged Foot
Bryson DeChambeau triumphed the last time the 48-year-old competed at the major
The Zozo Championship – the site of his last victory in 2019 – could be an option in October
The tournament is where Woods tied Sam Snead’s record of 82 wins on the PGA Tour
Woods has been adamant that he can still win as he revealed his desire to compete is the main factor fueling his determination to return.
‘I love competing. I love playing. I miss being out here with the guys. I miss the camaraderie and the fraternity-like atmosphere out here, and the overall banter,’ Woods said.
‘But what drives me is I love to compete. There will come a point in time, I haven’t come around to it fully yet, that I won’t be able to win again. When that day comes, I’ll walk.’
When pressed on whether that meant he still believes he can win again, which could break his tie with Sam Snead for the PGA Tour record wins, the golf icon adamantly responded: ‘Absolutely.’
But where can we realistically expect to see Woods on the leaderboard?
Days after insisting he can still win, Woods placed 18th out of the limited 20-player field at the Hero World Challenge.
He made the cut at both the Genesis and the Masters last year – by the skin of his teeth.
He was then forced to withdraw from the major following the third round where he battled through the elements and was seen hobbling on the undulated Augusta fairways in such visible pain viewers at home were wincing.
He was then forced to withdraw from the Masters following the third round in visible pain
Yet fans have been offered some reassurance that Woods’s biggest hindrance, his ankle and subsequently his walk, is no longer an issue after he underwent ankle surgery following his withdrawal from the third round of the Masters
‘I’m not concerned at all walking it. I don’t have any of the ankle pains I had with the hardware that has been placed in my foot. That’s all gone, but it’s more the other parts of my body, my knee hurts, my back, the forces go somewhere else. Just like when I had my back fused, the forces got to go somewhere. It’s up the chain.
‘So as I said, I’m just as curious as with all of you what’s going to happen. I haven’t done this in a while.’
But that doesn’t mean his body doesn’t hurt. Woods has undergone at least four microdiscectomy procedures on his back, most recently in December 2020 to relieve nerve pain in his lower back. He also had a more complex spinal fusion in April 2017, which ruled him out for 11 months.
He said it still takes him about four to five hours to recover from a round, with his post-round process including massages and ice baths, physical therapy and a gym session.
But on top of injuries, Woods is also battling father time. After celebrating his 48th birthday on December 30, Woods is up against players 20 years his junior.
Once the hot shot, he now finds himself competing against the likes of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland.
Woods now finds himself competing against the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland
Meanwhile, 2024 could mark the first year of Woods in a brand other than Nike for the first time in 27 years.
The sportswear giant has been with the 15-time major winner throughout every milestone of his career from five wins at Augusta to his emotional walk up the 18th at St. Andrews last year.
But the brand, which has sponsored the 47-year-old since 1996 when he was just 20, could be set to split with him as early as this month, according to the No Laying Up podcast.
Nike is said to be considering a move to shut down its golf division. Nike stopped making golf equipment in 2016 and has only sold apparel since.
But Woods remained tight-lipped when asked about the potential split at the PNC Championship in December.
‘I’m still wearing their product,’ was his response when asked to give clarity on the situation with the sportswear company, before he was asked ‘is this the end of it coming up?’
Once again, Woods repeated his previous answer, telling reporters: ‘I’m still wearing their product.’
And the sight of Woods in anything but his iconic look of Nike red on Sunday will take some time to get used to but it could also mark a fresh start heading into the Year of the Tiger.
Woods and Nike’s long-time, successful partnership reportedly could be coming to an end
The golfing great has worn the iconic Swoosh since 1996. Pictured winning the 1997 Masters
Further away from the course, Woods has stepped into the role as the sport’s figurehead, shaping golf like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer before him.
And the role has been critical through yet another turbulent year for golf amid the uneasy truce between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
Woods was added as the sixth ‘player director’ on the PGA Tour’s policy board following commissioner Jay Monahan’s shock U-turn on June 6 and has been key in the negotiations between the Tour and LIV’s backer, Saudi Arabia’s PIF.
While June’s merger ended the on-going litigation battles between the two fractions under the framework agreement, negotiations over details of the deal are ongoing and initially needed to conclude ahead of a December 31 deadline.
Woods insisted in November that all parties were working tirelessly to hammer out a final agreement ahead of the looming deadline but admitted that the slow pace has been frustrating.
‘I’m pleased at the process and how it’s evolved,’ he began. ‘Also frustrated in some of the slowness and the governance change we want to happen.
‘December 31st is coming up. There’s a timetable there that we would like to implement some of these changes that have not taken place.
‘The guys, all the players have spent so many hours and worked tireless hours to make sure that we have the best deal for all the players that are involved, on all the entire PGA tour.’
But with the deadline now been and gone and it reported that the cut-off point has now been push back as far as April, Woods is set to continue to play the guiding role in the world of golf.
The negotiations between the PGA Tour (left, commissioner Jay Monahan) and LIV Golf and PIF (right, governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan) are underway
Jordan Spieth, another player director on the policy board, said Woods isn’t ‘stepping in to throw influence anywhere.’
‘It just comes with him when he walks in the door,’ Spieth said. ‘He’s a listener, and he has a lot of experience. He’s seen the PGA Tour go through a lot of different changes over almost 30 years for him now. He comes with that kind of perspective as well as somehow a way of recognizing what can be good for the PGA Tour and its entire membership when he’s never been an ordinary member, but it doesn’t seem lost on him.’
But one thing 2024 will not hold in store for Woods is the TGL, which he and Rory McIlroy launched amid LIV’s contemptuous arrival.
The interactive, indoors, tech-based league was supposed to officially debut this month but the pair were forced to delay the launch after the roof of their Florida venue collapsed.
