Tiger Woods Makes Long-Awaited Return To PGA Tour—But Not How You Think

Tiger Woods has not played a PGA Tour event since The Masters in April.

In fact, Woods played just two events all of 2023 due to foot injury  foot/heel injuries suffered in a gruesome one-car accident in 2021.

Woods  opted to have surgery to help repair the injury and was expected to miss the entirety of the remaining season, if not longer.

Now, he’s back. Kind of.

Woods joined the PGA Tour’s Policy Board on Tuesday. He’s the sixth player member of the current board, joining Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati, Rory McIlroy and Webb Simpson.

The rest of the board is comprised of Independent Directors Chairman Ed Herlihy, Jimmy Dunne, Mark Flaherty, Mary Meeker and a to-be-announced replacement for Randall Stephenson; and the PGA of America Director John Lindert.

Woods released the following statement on his appointment:

“I am honored to represent the players of the PGA TOUR. This is a critical point for the TOUR, and the players will do their best to make certain that any changes that are made in TOUR operations are in the best interest of all TOUR stakeholders, including fans, sponsors and players. The players thank Commissioner Monahan for agreeing to address our concerns, and we look forward to being at the table with him to make the right decisions for the future of the game that we all love. He has my confidence moving forward with these changes.”

Over three-dozen players signed on to a letter expressing their support for the move.

“It means a lot,” Justin Thomas said of the move. “It’s very clearly where the game of golf is and where it’s headed. It’s important to him…When Arnold (Palmer) and Jack (Nicklaus) kind of passed the torch to him, that’s not something that he takes lightly.”

Who knows when Woods will make his return to competition on the tour. But one thing is certain. He cares deeply about its future, and isn’t afraid to put his name behind it.