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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Tiger Woods did not play in this week’s Hero World Challenge, an unofficial tournament held in the Bahamas.
But the 15-time major champion will still attend the event, and he met with the media Tuesday during a pre-tournament press conference. It was the first time Woods had met with reporters since he missed the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland in July.
Woods discussed a number of topics, including his health, a potential playing schedule for 2025, golfers being compensated to compete in the upcoming Ryder Cup and the PGA Tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Tiger’s health
Woods is not part of the 20-man field that will compete this week at the Albany golf club. Last year, Woods returned from a layoff of more than seven months to finish 18th at even par, 20 strokes behind champion Scottie Scheffler.
In 2023, Macan returned from surgery to deal with post-traumatic arthritis in his right foot and ankle, caused by injuries sustained in a car accident in February 2021.
This time, he is recovering from microdecompression surgery in September to relieve pain from nerve impingement in his lower back.
“I’m not physically ready to compete at this level,” Woods said. “When I come back here, I’m ready to start competing and playing again. Unfortunately, not this time. I still need to continue training to give myself the best chance for next year and future events.”
Woods, 48, did not indicate Tuesday when he plans to return to competitive play, saying, “I really don’t know.”
In the past, he competed with his son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship, which will take place in Orlando, Florida, in two weeks. In the event, the Tiger can use the chariot.
Otherwise, golf fans may not see Woods play again until the Genesis Invitational, which is hosted Feb. 13-16 at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles, or the Masters, the first of the season, April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf. Club.
Woods said his back condition caused pain in his legs that worsened over time. He made just five tour starts in 2024. He missed three cuts and withdrew from the Genesis Invitational due to illness.
“I had to throw (the season) away, and I wasn’t as sharp as I wanted to be and I didn’t play as well as I needed to get into the majors, and I didn’t play well,” Woods said. “Hopefully, next year will be better. I will be stronger and better. I know the procedure helps, and I hope I can build on it.”
Since Woods has had multiple back surgeries in the past, he knows the long recovery he faces this time around.
“I knew what I was going to do,” Woods said. “The relief I feel, I don’t have seizures, I don’t have nerve pain, so it’s amazing. But I also know that I still have a long way to go before rehab and recovery. I don’t know this yet, but I know very well and I know the process, I know how long it will take.
“We’re going to continue to do all the gym work and continue to do all the protocols, and that will eventually lead to me being able to compete again.”
PGA Tour’s potential deal with Public Investment Fund
It has been almost a year since the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with the DP World Tour and PIF expired on December 31, 2023.
There have been signs of progress in recent months, including a well-publicized meeting between the parties in New York in September, and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan playing golf with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro. -am in early October.
As a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board and vice chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board, Woods has been involved in discussions with the PIF regarding a potential investment of more than $1 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, the tour’s for-profit wing.
On Tuesday, Woods stated that the deal was not done yet, admitting that “all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened sooner than this.”
Woods acknowledged that any agreement between the parties would be closely scrutinized by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. It is likely to be reviewed by antitrust regulators in Europe as well.
“Even though we’ve reached a deal now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands, but we want to have something more concrete and more advanced than we have now,” Woods said. “But things are very fluid, we’re still working on it, it’s happening every day. From a policy board point of view or from an Enterprise point of view, things are moving and constructive. But yes, they are moving.”
Although the side appears to be in line on many issues, a source told ESPN on Tuesday that the golf team’s position in the sports ecosystem in the future and how LIV golfers will return to the PGA Tour remain moot.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that the PIF was in separate negotiations with the DP World Tour regarding an alliance that would give LIV Golf players access to DP World Tour events. In exchange, PIF will make a financial investment in the European tour.
“It’s a very difficult time in the game of golf,” Woods said. “I think that many have been disturbed in the beauty of the game of golf, and obviously we try to unite and give fans the best experience we know we can give them.”
At the same news conference Tuesday, Pawan Munjal, CEO of Hero MotoCorp, which is sponsoring Woods’ tournament in the Bahamas, expressed frustration that the parties had not reached a deal.
“It’s very simple, the game doesn’t benefit, the players don’t benefit,” Munjal said. “Maybe some on the tour. What needs to happen is that everyone comes back and the game goes on, the players go on, the sponsors go on. Now there is also confusion for the sponsors, what to do, where to go. how to see the future not of course, that’s not good.”
Ryder Cup Compensation
Last month, the Telegraph of London reported that US golfers will be paid $400,000 to compete in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park in New York in September 2025.
The PGA of America is now giving each American golfer $200,000 to distribute to a charity of their choice. The Telegraph did not say whether the $400,000 stipend would be given to the player or charity.
Woods engaged in similar discussions with the PGA of America prior to the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Woods said he would not have a problem if golfers were paid to compete in the Ryder Cup, as long as the money goes to charity.
“We didn’t want to get paid (in 1999), we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned against us and said we wanted to get paid,” Woods said. “No, the Ryder Cup itself makes a lot of money, why can’t it be allocated to different charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players get a million dollars and the ability to share it with the incredible charities they participate in. can you help out?
“It’s my hometown, where I’m from, all the different junior golf associations or the ventures that the members are doing. No one knows how to pay, how we can provide funds to help the sport or help things that we believe in. at the back of the house , because it’s very difficult to get into the team, there are only 12 guys, what’s wrong with allocating more funds?”
Following the Telegraph’s report, European captain Luke Donald asked many of his team’s golfers about what they should be paid. Rory McIlroy said the consensus was to donate money back to the DP World Tour.
“One week you play more than yourself,” Donald told the Telegraph. “It’s … not about money or points, it’s about coming together as a team and the fans feed off – it’s all passion. I don’t think we should ever get paid.”
Regardless of how the European team feels about compensation, Woods said he hopes American golfers get $5 million each and donate it to charity.
“That’s fine, that’s his right to speak,” Woods said. “I just think that the event is big that I think that we can give more money to different charities, and I have said since ’99 when we have discussed Brookline. If the Europeans want to pay to be in the Ryder Cup, it is their decision to do it’s the team that I know that in the European land that subsidizes most of the tour, so it’s a big event for the European Tour, and if they want to pay to play in it, so be it.”
