Tiger Woods nearing decisions on
whether to play in the Masters and be Ryder Cup captain
[February 25, 2026]
By DOUG FERGUSON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiger Woods is on the clock.
Woods kept everyone guessing — a favorite hobby of his — with one
word and a smug grin last week at Riviera when he was asked if
playing in the Masters was off the table.
“No," he replied.
The grin indicated there would be nothing to add. To borrow a phrase
from Dan Hicks at NBC when Woods forced a playoff in the 2008 U.S.
Open at Torrey Pines, “Expect anything different?”
He wasn't about to rule out playing in the Masters with two months
to go. And having not competed in more than a year, Woods just
doesn't know yet. But big decisions are looming for Woods in the
next month.
The Masters gets all the attention because a red shirt on Sunday has
become nearly as common as a green jacket at Augusta National. But
there's also that small matter of the Ryder Cup.
Woods is the top choice — the only choice at the moment — to be
captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland, just like he was for the
last Ryder Cup before he turned it down. Officials were forced to
wait longer than ever before announcing Keegan Bradley as captain at
Bethpage Black.
Now the PGA of America is asking Woods to decide before the Masters
whether he wants the job. Two people informed of the situation
describe it more as a soft deadline than an ultimatum. They spoke on
condition of anonymity because these matters are private.
The Ryder Cup captaincy has become a time-consuming job, and Woods
sounds as though he is busier than ever. His most important role is
chairman of the Future Competition Committee as it works toward one
of the biggest and most complicated overhauls of the PGA Tour
schedule.
Woods offered as much when he said, “I thought I spent a lot of
hours practicing in my prime. It doesn't even compare to what we've
done in the boardroom.”
This is what drives him at the moment. He would love to be at the
Masters, where in 2024 he set the record by making his 24th
consecutive cut. He is a player at heart.
Woods looked good last week in his role as tournament host at the
Genesis Invitational. More than one person noticed the purpose in
his step — and how big he looked — just walking through the locker
room. He was comfortable in his news conference and in the CBS booth
with Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman.
Good enough to compete while walking 72 holes at Augusta? Woods kept
them guessing, too.
He said he is hitting full shots — “Not well every day, but I can
hit them,” he said — and the Achilles tendon he ruptured a year ago
is no longer an issue, rather it's the recovery from a seventh back
surgery in September to replace a disk in his lower back.
Age doesn't help. He turned 50 at the end of last year and recovery
takes longer.
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Tiger Woods speaks to the media at Riviera Country Club in Los
Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, ahead of the Genesis Invitational,
where he is the tournament host. (AP Photo/Doug Ferguson)
As for the Ryder Cup captaincy, it's all about time
and priorities. Woods is driven by the idea that as much as he has
done for the game already (think prize money), he can do even more
as a chief architect that reshapes the model of golf at the highest
level.
So when the Ryder Cup came up, his first response was he hasn't
decided.
“I'm trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our tour,” he
said. “That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying
to figure out if I can actually do our team — Team USA and our
players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup —
if I can do it justice."
By the time the azaleas are bursting with blooms in early April,
Woods could be wearing yet another hat as Ryder Cup captain. Or the
PGA of America will move on to a Plan B that includes predictable
options and few surprises.
Meanwhile, the next two weeks might offer hints on how much progress
Woods is making on the job taking up most of his bandwidth.
PGA Tour Enterprises CEO Brian Rolapp is expected to give an update,
pulling back the curtain as much as he can, on the progress of the
new schedule. The committee is looking at the sequence of events — a
splashy start and a finish that makes sense — with an eye on big
markets.
Woods said the final work might not be done in time for 2027,
perhaps only portions of what to expect. That would seem to indicate
a later start to the season (Aloha, Hawaii) and moving around some
of the postseason events.
The tour has been looking at moving some of the premier West Coast
stops to August for better (warmer) weather and prime-time viewing.
To move Riviera to August would make sense except golf in LA doesn't
have a history of big attendance in August, and title sponsor
Genesis already has a PGA Tour event in July (Scottish Open). Torrey
Pines? It was worth noting the strong attendance this year by
officials from Wisconsin-based Sentry, currently the title sponsor
at Kapalua.
Pebble Beach has a massive car show that dates to 1950 and is among
the best in the world in the middle of August. That tournament is
unlikely to move to summer.
“There’s been a lot of moving parts over the last couple years,”
Woods said.
He was speaking about the tour. He could just as easily be talking
about himself.
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