Tiger Woods Masters Return Hinted as Website Updates Biography
Golf enthusiasts are increasingly convinced that they have received the strongest indication yet that Tiger Woods will compete at The Masters next month. The 50-year-old legend has been absent from professional play since October, following his seventh career back surgery. Additionally, he suffered a torn Achilles in March 2025, which forced him to miss last year's major championship at Augusta National.
Injury Concerns and Speculation
These injuries have sparked significant fears about the future of the golfing great's career, intensifying speculation over his potential participation in The Masters. However, anxious fans may have received a crucial boost this week as the tournament refreshed its official website ahead of the major, which is now just three weeks away.
Eagle-eyed supporters of the 15-time major winner quickly noticed that Woods' biography page on The Masters site had been updated with one key detail. From Thursday, the opening line of Woods' blurb read: 'Tiger Woods is making his 27th Masters start in 2026.'
Website Clues and Fan Reactions
Woods made his 26th start at The Masters in 2024, with his first appearance dating all the way back to 1995, when he earned Low Amateur honors. Notably, his name was excluded from the list of 'Past Champions Not Playing' and was instead included in the 2026 playing field. The updated figure and the distinct use of the present tense have left fans convinced that Woods is set to make his highly anticipated return to Augusta when the tournament begins on April 9.
'The Official 2026 Masters app has been updated. I'm ready to get hurt again,' a Woods fan account posted on X, seemingly referring to repeatedly getting their hopes up for his comeback.
Woods' Recovery and Recent Comments
Despite these optimistic signs, just days earlier, Woods had remained non-committal about his status for the tournament, which he has won five times. He admitted that his recovery progress has been inconsistent. 'I said I've been working on it,' Woods said following the semifinals of TGL, where his team Jupiter Links secured 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.
Woods has not played competitively on the professional tour since the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. While he participated in 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.
Role in TGL and Future Prospects
Instead, Woods has taken on the role of 'manager' for his team Jupiter Links, which sneaked into the playoffs before sealing their spot in the final with an upset over McIlroy's Boston Common on Tuesday. Jupiter Links, featuring players like 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 TGL final, despite insisting that he had tried to play in every match this season without success. '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.'
