Tiger Woods won’t be part of next week’s Players Championship.
The PGA Tour announced the field for what’s often known as golf’s “fifth major,” and Woods was not part of the group that will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Players had until 5 p.m. ET Friday to commit to the event.
Woods has won the Players twice, in 2001 and ’13.
Field for THE PLAYERS Championship (March 9-12)
The winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Puerto Rico Open will qualify if not otherwise exempt. pic.twitter.com/WTdWIOwhva
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 3, 2023
Woods skipping the Players likely means he’ll next play at the Masters in early April.
He last played at the Genesis Invitational two weeks ago, making the cut and finishing tied for 45th.
Asked at the time his future schedule, Woods was noncommittal to playing again before the Masters.
“Here’s the deal: Like I told you guys last year, I’m not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more,” Woods said then. “That’s it, that’s all my body will allow me to do. My back the way it is, all the surgeries I had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can’t. That’s just going to be my future.
“So, my intent last year was to play in all four majors. I got three of the four. Hopefully, this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there. But that’s it for the rest of my career. I know that and I understand that. That’s just my reality.”