Tiger Woods confirms comeback date as he plans grand return with Rory McIlroy

Tiger Woods hasn't played since the 2024 Open Championship, where he missed the cut. He didn't play any of the fall schedule and he's not going to participate in the Hero World Challenge this weekend.

The next opportunity to play will be at the beginning of the 2025 season, which is right around when TGL is set to launch.

Golf reporter Bob Harig, who was at the latest press conference for the Hero World Challenge, asked Woods if he'd be ready to play when TGL launches. He's been recovering from a lumbar microdecompression surgery of the spine because he had nerve impingement in his lower back.

Woods said that he would be ready for TGL's launch. His first scheduled day to play is January 14, and he anticipates being healthy enough to contribute to his team. He said that he might have a harder time doing that if the league was launching today.

Woods and Rory McIlroy have created this league. It was initially supposed to launch last January but an infrastructure failure pushed it back a year. That inadvertently gave Woods more time to get healthy after the season, and he should be ready to go. That will be, barring a surprise appearance in some of the early PGA Tour events, his first time playing since that last Major in 2024.

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Tiger Woods has no update on future

At the same press conference, Tiger Woods was asked about his future with golf. He said he isn't physically ready to compete as often as he wants but that he still has the fire to go out and play.

Tiger Woods opened up on his future in golf (Image via Getty)

Woods said he doesn't have a target to return to golf in a more prominent role. He added (via the Daily Mail):

"I'm just progressively trying to test it, keep making progress without setting it off. I don't want to have any setbacks, just want to keep making progress and give myself the best chance going into next year as possible."

He said that he's getting stronger and "more pliable," but Woods knows he still has a long way to go before he can really compete again. He added:

"I'm not tournament sharp yet. I'm still not there. These are 20 of the best players in the world and I'm not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. So when I'm ready to compete and play at this level, then I will."

Tiger Woods also said that he didn't expect his back to deteriorate across the season as it did. He struggled with it all season and eventually had to have a minor surgery to provide some relief.