NASSAU, Bahamas – Twenty-seven days shy of his 49th birthday, Tiger Woods showed up earlier than expected for his Tuesday press conference at the Hero World Challenge. But his 30-minute chat with the media was proof that he had, in fact, arrived as the game’s stateman, elder or otherwise.
Much like Jack Nicklaus and the late Arnold Palmer, when Woods talks, people listen. But what stood out from his latest presser was a combination of measured takes and subtle offerings.
Woods was asked about his health and a game that’s been on the shelf since The Open in July and another back procedure, his fifth, in September.
“I’m not tournament sharp yet. I’m still not there,” said Woods, who is not in the field this week at Albany. “These are 20 of the best players in the world and I’m not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. So, when I’m ready to compete and play at this level, then I will.”
It’s a familiar refrain from a player who has endured a lifetime of physical challenges since a 2021 car crash. He’s played just 10 official events since that crash in Los Angeles with four missed cuts and three withdrawals. Cautious optimism has been the standard for Tiger the last few years, and he remains hopeful he can return to his plan to play “once a month,” but those holding out hope that Woods has another competitive run in him will likely be disappointed.
What he has become, however, is the voice of professional golf. Rory McIlroy embraced the role throughout much of 2022 and ’23 but he became disillusioned following the PGA Tour’s decision to sign a framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Enter Tiger, the statesman.
In August 2023, Woods was named to the Tour’s policy board in an unprecedented move that, unlike the other player directors on the board, has no term limit. By many accounts, he’s become a central figure in the negotiations between the Tour and PIF, and his voice is often the final say on important issues.
It was the state of those negotiations and the future of professional golf that was the primary focus of Tuesday’s press conference.
“I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought [a deal with PIF] would have happened quicker than this,” Woods said. “Even if it did, we’re still at the regulations of the [Department of Justice] saying it’s giving us hominus dominus [permission] that it will go through.
“Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands, but we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now. But things are very fluid, we’re still working through it, it’s happening daily.”
It’s here that requires a level of interpretation. It would be professionally unsound for a member of the Tour’s policy board to offer a truly unfiltered take on the ongoing negotiations between the Tour and PIF, but Woods did pull back the curtain, however slightly, on what he might be thinking.
“We’re moving on the fly to try and give everyone the best product we possibly can and give the game peace that it needs,” he said. “This has been a very difficult time in the game of golf. I think that a lot of it has been distractions on the beauty of the game of golf and obviously we’re trying to unify that and give the fans the best experience we know we can give them.”
Highlights from Woods’ annual presser in the Bahamas, including remarks on his health, PIF talks and PGA Tour changes.
Woods, the statesman, was also asked about the recent move to cut field sizes and fully exempt Tour members starting in 2026, a move that was approved by the policy board last month.
“Redefining what a Tour pro is,” Woods said. “Yes, playing opportunities have been reduced at certain parts, but we also have player equity in this as well, which has never happened before. So, the players who are playing, they’re going to get well compensated going forward, which that was never the case.”
He also spoke on whether U.S. Ryder Cup players should be paid, a move that was originally talked about in the late 1990s but, according to multiple reports, is close to becoming a reality. Woods was pro-compensation, with a caveat.
“I would have to say that going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99 and we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid,” Woods said. “The Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players getting a million dollars and the ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out?”
For a player who has pathologically avoided answering controversial questions in his career, this new version is surprisingly insightful given the narrow path the Tour is currently travelling. No, he didn’t offer a hard deadline for a potential deal with the Saudis or any real particulars of the negotiations, but there was a calm determination to his answers that spoke volumes.
“I think something will get done [with the PIF]. In what form or shape, I don’t know yet,” he offered with no real context but with the unspoken acknowledgment that the most important voice in the room wants “peace.”
