Tiger Woods gives updates on health, playing in PNC, Tour Champions

Tiger Woods confirmed he will not play in the PNC Championship the week before Christmas, marking the first time he and son, Charlie, will not be at the event since their debut in 2020.

Woods, speaking ahead of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, made his first public comments since undergoing disc replacement surgery Oct. 10. He touched on several topics, including his availability for the TGL season that starts on Dec. 28.

He started by giving an update on his health after being asked how the recovery is going.

"It's not as fast as I'd like it to be," the Jupiter Island resident said. "It was a good thing to do something I needed to have happen. It just takes some time and dedication to the rehab process."

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Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, recently was cleared to chip and putt. He said it would not be fair to Charlie or another team that could get into the PNC for them to take a spot in the event that will be held Dec. 20-21 in Orlando.

"Not only would it not be fair to my son but also it wouldn't be fair to another team that could play and could have that experience that we've had for a number of years," he said.

Charlie Woods, No. 9 in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, capped a strong year by leading the Benjamin boys golf team to the Florida state championship in November.

Woods gave no timeline on his return to competitive golf, including the second season for TGL, the indoor, high-tech golf league, co-founded by Woods and Rory McIlroy and played in Palm Beach Gardens; and the possibility of playing on the Tour Champions.

"I won't be able to play the first part of the TGL season but I will be there every match Jupiter Links competes in," said Woods, a co-owner of Jupiter Links GC. "Hopefully, I will be able to maybe play the end of the season here and there but I don't know.

"I just started chipping and putting. I got to hit more shots than just chip and putt in TGL, there's a few drives I might have to hit."

Tiger Woods has said he's open to Tour Champions in the past

Woods has said in the past he would be open to play on the Tour Champions for those 50-and-older, but he's not close to making that decision for 2026.

"Let me get back to playing again, let me do that then I'll try to figure out what the schedule will be," he said. "I'm way away from that part of it and that type of decision and that type of commitment level.

"Unfortunately, I've gone through this rehab level before; it's step by step. And then 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."

Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tiger Woods updates health, playing in PNC Championship, Tour Champions