Tiger Woods gives huge injury update as excitement continues to rise over icon’s potential return at The Masters

Tiger Woods gave an insight into his recovery as speculation over the golfing legend’s chances of teeing it up at The Masters next month continues to ramp up.

Woods, who turned 50 in December, has been sidelined since October when he underwent back surgery – the seventh of his career. He also suffered a torn Achilles in March 2025, which ruled him out of last year’s major championship at Augusta.

The injuries sparked fears over the future of the icon’s playing career. However, Woods insisted on Tuesday that he was doing everything in his power to work towards a comeback.

Yet, whether that return will come in time for The Masters remains to be seen. The 15-time major winner remained mum on his status for the tournament, which he has won five times, as he admitted that his recovery progress was still up and down.

‘I said I’ve been working on it,’ Woods said following the semifinals of TGL, which saw his Jupiter Links seal their spot in the final.

‘Sometimes I have good days, sometimes I have bad days. Disk replacement is not a lot of fun,’ he added, according to ESPN.

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Tiger Woods gave an insight into his recovery ahead of The Masters next month

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Speculation has ramped up over the chances of the golfing legend competing at The Masters

Woods has not played competitively on the tour since 2024 at the Open Championship at Royal Troon.

While he played during the inaugural season of TGL, the indoor, tech-infused golf league he co-founded with Rory McIlroy, Woods has been benched for the duration of this season’s campaign.

Woods has taken on the role of ‘manager’ of his team Jupiter Links, which snuck into the playoffs before sealing their spot in the final with an upset over McIlroy’s Boston Common on Tuesday.

Jupiter Links, which features Tom Kim, Max Homa, Kevin Kisner, and Akshay Bhatia, who has stood in as Woods’ replacement, will face Los Angeles Golf Club in the finals starting Monday.

Woods also remained coy on the possibility of playing in the final, despite insisting that he had tried to play in every match this season to no avail.

‘Well, I think that I have been trying to play each and every one of these matches,’ he said. ‘I’ve been trying to come back. But it just hasn’t worked out that way. … But the guys here, this team, we have so much fun, I really don’t want to screw up the lineup, I just want these guys to keep playing.’

Meanwhile, golf fans are waiting on the edge of their seats as they await another verdict from Woods ahead of The Masters.

The legend has reportedly been given a deadline of next month’s major to decide if he wants to be the USA’s next Ryder Cup captain.

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Woods’ TGL team, Jupiter Links, sealed a spot in the final with a win on Tuesday night

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The 15-time major winner must decide if he wants to be USA’s Ryder Cup captain by the Masters

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Woods has been dating Vanessa Trump, the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr., for over a year

While the Europeans have already confirmed that Luke Donald will be returning for his third consecutive tenure, Woods is the leading contender to be captain of the US team for the 2027 event at Adare Manor in Ireland.

He had also been the top candidate for the last Ryder Cup before he turned it down. PGA of America officials were forced to wait longer than ever before announcing Keegan Bradley as captain at Bethpage Black.

Now they are asking Woods to decide before the Masters, which runs from April 9 to 12, whether he wants the job.

According to the Associated Press, sources have described it more as a soft deadline than an ultimatum.

The Ryder Cup captaincy has become a time-consuming job, and Woods sounds as though he is busier than ever.

His most important role is chairman of the Future Competition Committee as it works toward one of the biggest and most complicated overhauls of the PGA Tour schedule.