PGA Tour winner: "I don't think Tiger Woods will play in a major again..."

Former PGA Tour pro Johnson Wagner has delivered a brutally honest verdict on Tiger Woods’ future, saying he doesn’t believe the 15-time major champion will ever play in another major championship again.

Wagner, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who now works as on-course commentator for NBC Sports and Golf Channel, has made his feelings be known just days after Woods confirmed he'd undergone the seventh back surgery of his career — a lumbar disc replacement in his L4/5 to ease ongoing back pain.

Prior to undergoing his latest back surgery, Woods, 49, was already recovering from surgery after having ruptured his left Achilles tendon in March.

He was also still dealing with leg and ankle difficulties that he'll unfortunately have for the rest of his life following his horror car crash in Los Angeles in February 2021. 

Woods' injury timeline reads as long as his major win count. 

The 15-time major champion will now miss out on competing in his annual Hero World Challenge and the father-son PNC Championship alongside his son Charlie Woods this December. 

It will mark the first time since 2016 that Woods has failed to play a single tournament all season. 

Woods has at least confirmed to Jupiter Links GC that he will be in attendance for all of their TGL matches next season. 

The last time Woods contested in a major was when missing the cut at The Open at Royal Troon in July 2024. 

Could Woods return to the major scene in 2026?

Not in the eyes of Wagner, who thinks that's it now. 

"I say that because I have with so much respect for him and admiration for what he did but I'm going to say this, I don't think we'll ever see him play in another major championship" Wagner told Trey Wingo on his podcast.

"He’s always been a guy who has said he won't be a ceremonial golfer.

"I just don’t see a world where we see him play in The Masters again — and that makes me very sad. 

"I think his body is just beaten down, and I don’t think he can do it anymore."

Seven back surgeries. 

A rebuilt leg. 

A repaired Achilles. 

Even for Tiger Woods, it's an extraordinary list to overcome.

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Wingo then asked whether Woods’ career might have been different had he accepted a medical exemption to use a golf cart on the PGA Tour following his 2021 car crash. 

Wagner thinks it would have made no difference. 

"I don’t think that he would ever take a cart," said Wagner. 

"The Achilles issue that he just had and now another back surgery — it’s just added up. 

"No, I think even with a cart, I think the game has gotten young, everyone’s hitting the ball so far and everybody is so good. 

"I don't think even Tiger Woods in a cart right now he would be able to win."

Watch Wagner's comments in full here:

Wagner's comments are a little different to ours at GolfMagic right now, as we do think Woods will try his best to get back on the major scene over the coming years.

But at the same time, we do agree with Wagner that the end is sadly very much nigh for Woods. 

Here at GolfMagic we think it would be amazing if Woods could somehow end his golf career just like Jack Nicklaus did in 2005 and bow out at the Home of Golf.

We have earmarked the 155th Open on the famed Old Course at St Andrews in July 2027 as the major that Woods could retire from the game. 

Whether his body lets him get that far though remains to be seen.