Tiger Woods' sarcastic response to golf reporter over PGA Tour comeback question

Tiger Woods joked he's probably going to play 25 events next year as he addressed the media for the first time since undergoing surgery on his back for the seventh time in his career. 

The 49-year-old has been sidelined since missing the cut at The Open Championship last July at Royal Troon. 

Woods has been reduced to limited appearances since sustaining serious injuries to his right leg in a car crash in 2021. 

And he faced a further setback in October after undergoing disc replacement surgery on his lower back. 

The surgery came seven months after he ruptured his left Achilles. 

Woods told reporters ahead of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Tuesday that his recovery is not going as fast as he would've liked. 

Asked about potential playing time in 2026, including appearances on the over 50s PGA Tour Champions, Woods joked: "Yeah, I'm probably going to play probably 25 events on both tours and I think that should cover most of the year, right?"

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He added: "No, I'm just looking forward to just let me get back to playing again, let me do that and then I'll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be. 

"I'm a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level. 

"Unfortunately, I've been through this rehab process before, it's just step by step. 

"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."

Woods has only played in eight majors since he crashed his luxury Genesis SUV in the Los Angeles Hill four years ago. 

In those appearances, Woods has missed four cuts and was forced to withdraw injured once at the halfway stage. Woods is yet to miss a cut at The Masters.

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• Tiger Woods' press conference - as it happened

He has confirmed that he has been given the green light by his medical team to start chipping and putting again. 

"It's been six weeks [since the surgery] last Friday," Woods said. "It's been slow. Not able to do much on a disc replacement to let it set. 

"Can't really do much. Now we got the okay to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, started strengthening and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven't been able to do. Just letting the disc kind of set."

Asked why he wants to mount another comeback, Woods said: "I'd like to come back to just playing golf again. I haven't played golf in a long time. 

"It's been a tough year. I've had a lot of things happen on and off the golf course that's been tough. 

"And so my passion to just play, I haven't done that in a long time. Just play. 

"So I've had to sit on the sidelines for a number of months, and most of this year and quite frankly end of last year."

PNC Championship

The laborious process means Team Woods won't participate in the forthcoming PNC Championship. 

Woods has played in five editions of the parent/child PGA Tour event with his teenage son Charlie but will miss out this year. 

"It wouldn't be fair to my son," Woods said. "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."

Ryder Cup captaincy

Woods previously turned down the United States Ryder Cup captaincy. 

The PGA of America decided to turn to Keegan Bradley and the USA were defeated by Luke Donald's Europe 15-13 on their own turf.  

Woods is the favourite to succeed Bradley but told reporters he hasn't been asked about it yet. 

"I'm asking you about it," a reporter told Woods. 

Woods replied firmly: "No one's aske me about it."

He did confirm, though, that he watched the action unfold in New York and was talking the players and captains involved. 

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