Tiger Woods said his goal is to play in all four majors and a few other tournaments, but «the fifth major» won’t be one of them.
Woods didn’t sign up for The Players’ Championship by Friday’s deadline, so he won’t be on the field.
The 47-year-old played in The Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles last month, and after barely making the cut, finished tied for 45th.
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Tiger Woods plays his shot from the 12th hole during the first round of The Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles on February 16, 2023. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
«Like I told you last year, I’m not going to play more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more.» Woods said after Genesis. «That’s it, that’s all my body will allow me to do. My back the way it is, all the surgeries I’ve had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can’t. That will be my future.» .
«So my intention last year was to play all four majors, I got three out of four. Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe add a few here and there. But that’s it for the rest of my career.» . I know and I understand. That’s just my reality.»
But if Woods is in a tournament, he’s there to win, despite being in the last nine of his career.
Tiger Woods looks for a shot during the second round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 20, 2022. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Woods clearly has his eyes on next month’s Masters, but whether he will play before then is unknown now.
The 15-time Grand Slam champion reminded everyone ahead of the Genesis that he’s not ready to simply be an ambassador for golf, even though his schedule is very limited.
«I have not come to the idea of being [a ceremonial golfer]. If I’m playing, I’m playing to win.» Woods told the media before playing in Riviera. «I know the players have played, and they’re ambassadors of the game and trying to grow the game. I can’t think of that as a competitor. If I’m playing in the event, I’m going to try and beat you. I’m there to get a ‘W’.
“Making a cut is a big thing. If I enter the event, it’s always to get a ‘W’. There will come a time when my body will no longer allow me to do that, and that will probably be sooner rather than later. But thinking about that transition and being an ambassador role and just playing and trying to be here with the guys? No, that’s just not in my DNA.»
Tiger Woods plays a second shot on the 13th hole during the second round of The Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles on February 17, 2023. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
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Woods is currently in the second-longest tournament drought of his career: he was previously winless from 2013 to 2018, but he won the TOUR Championship to get back on top and then won the teachers of 2019 seven months later.
Woods is a two-time The Players Championship winner (2001, 2013), and defending champion Cameron Smith is ineligible due to switching boats to LIV Golf.