Tiger Woods hopes to play 1 tournament per month in 2024

Voice over: Michael Robles
Writer: Brody Miller
Video editor: Lance Keller
Tiger Woods hopes to play 1 tournament per month
in 2024, weighs in on PGA, PIF deadline
Tiger Woods laid out a plan for the 2024 season, saying
the best scenario for his return to golf is to potentially
play one tournament per month.
Woods suggested a scenario of playing the Genesis
Invitational in February and then finding a tournament for
March before the majors begin in April.
“I need to get myself ready for all that. I think this week is
a step in that direction,” he said at a Tuesday news
conference at the Hero World Challenge, the golf
tournament he hosts annually in the Bahamas. “I’m just
as curious as all of you are to see what happens. ... I
don’t have any of the pain that I had at Augusta or pre
that in my ankle.”
Woods withdrew from the Masters on April 9 due to
plantar fasciitis and underwent a 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 although he’s pain-
free in his ankle, his aches and pains have moved to his
knees and back. Despite that, Woods “absolutely” still
believes he can win tournaments.
Woods, 47, will tee off for Tuesday’s Hero World Challenge
practice round at 11:52 a.m. ET with Justin Thomas. The
23rd iteration of the event begins Nov. 30 and features
multiple PGA stars, including Jordan Spieth, Collin
Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler.
Talk of the PGA Tour working to land 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 with “no animosity.”
PGA Tour players were blindsided by the PGA’s framework
agreement with the PIF, which owns LIV Golf, on June 6 to
merge their commercial operations. PGA golfers were
kept in the dark about the deal and later reportedly sent
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan a letter demanding
a review of the tour’s power structure.
In response to the players’ unrest, the tour added a sixth
player seat to the player directors on the all-powerful PGA
Tour policy board in August: Woods.
When asked if he has faith in Monahan after the
framework agreement, Woods said, “I do have faith in Jay
and what he could do going forward and what can’t
happen again.”
Tiger Woods the board member
Woods does not seem sure of what professional golf will
look like in a year. He wasn’t necessarily confident a PGA
Tour deal with PIF will happen by the deadline, and the
most he provided in terms of contingencies was to say
there were “other options” if a deal doesn’t get done.
But the primary takeaway was how authoritative he was
as a new board member stating plainly that players need
more power in the tour’s decision-making process and
how frustrated he was about Monahan making the
framework agreement with PIF behind his back. Woods
seems incredibly engaged in his new role and making
sure he steers golf in the right direction, even if there’s
still a very murky road ahead. - Brody Miller, golf staff
writer
Why he’s making another comeback
The most important detail from Tuesday was that Woods
is not in pain. He hasn’t played much golf and has no idea
how it will go this week, but that part can get worked out
over the next few months. The key for Woods is he can
caddie for his son Charlie and walk 90 holes over the next
week without pain, something he has not been able to
say for years. When asked if he thinks he can still win
events, though, he confidently said, “Absolutely,” so you
know the root of it is he just wants to keep competing.
His saying the hope is to play one tournament a month
next season is jarring considering the horrific car wreck
he was in two years ago and the surgery he had this
spring. No, Woods will never be the star he once was
again, but if he can be healthy and play without pain,
there remains a future for Woods to play golf on the big
stages.