Tiger Woods Now Eligible for Champions Tour, but Will He Join?
Tiger Woods has officially turned 50, which makes the 15-time Major champion eligible for the Champions Tour. The question is, will he join? It is admittedly a lesser Tour than the PGA Tour, because it is designed for those over 50 who can and still want to play, but can't keep up with the PGA Tour life. That describes Tiger Woods, but he probably doesn't view himself that way.
Tiger Woods Unlikely to Join Champions Tour
Tiger Woods has exemptions into most Major tournaments. He also has a lifetime exemption into all Signature Events on the PGA Tour. This includes the Sentry, the Memorial Tournament, the Players Championship, and his own Genesis Invitational.
While Woods can't really compete against Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy anymore, that gives him the chance to still play the biggest events of the season and stay off the course some to help preserve his body. Lately, his body hasn't held up for anything.
He has had a few surgeries, and the last time he played golf on Tour was July 2024, when he missed the cut at the Open Championship. He's tried and failed to get back on the course since then, though he has played some with his TGL team.
Woods' competitive fire has likely not died out, and while the Champions Tour is a wonderful installment for older golfers, Woods probably does not see himself in the same group as Stephen Ames, Fred Couples, John Daly, or Jim Furyk.
In December, at the Hero World Challenge, Woods said via ESPN, "Once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I'm going to play and how much I'll play. I'm a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level."
Health, not age
It's not that age is a problem for Woods. Phil Mickelson won a Major at 50 in 2021, and he's had some competitive outings since then. Woods was always better than Mickelson and younger. Because of that, there's no reason to think Woods' skill is gone, thanks to turning 50. It's just that his body is not the same.
He's been put back together so many times that he physically doesn't have the same body anymore, and it's not one that seems to handle four days (or even two) of 18-hole competitive golf. His mind and his skill are probably there, but his health just isn't.
"I'd like to come back to just playing golf again," Woods added earlier this month. "I haven't played golf in a long time. It's been a tough year. I've had a lot of things happen on and off the golf course that's been tough. And so my passion [is] to just play, I haven't done that in a long time."
Woods did joke that he'd play 25 events on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour once he turned 50, which he has now."I think that should cover most of the year, right?" Woods laughed. "No, I'm just looking forward to just [getting] back to playing again. Let me do that, and then I'll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be."
It remains to be seen what he can handle. However, for as long as he's even remotely able, Woods will likely try and continue competing at the highest level. After that, it's anyone's guess what he'll do.
