Tiger Woods may not be back on the PGA Tour for quite some time.
After playing for the Jupiter Links Tuesday in the TGL — the indoor golf league started by him and Rory McIlroy — Woods was asked about possibly playing in next week’s Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
“I really haven’t thought about golf,” Woods said, according to the Palm Beach Post.
“I don’t think I’m going to be thinking about it for just a little bit here.”
Woods, 49, pulled out of last weekend’s Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines in the wake of his mother Kultida’s death on Feb. 4, though he still attended the tournament.
The last time his mother saw him play was at TGL.
“I had a hard time driving down here,” Woods said, per the TWLegion X feed. “I hadn’t hit a golf ball since I played with the President and just put everything away and shut it off. I had a really hard time getting here and then reliving all the moments that we’ve had, my mom, how excited she was to have Charlie drive her here. So those are some great moments and great memories. It’s been a hard process.”
Woods has not played on the Tour since the British Open in July.
The Player’s Championship (March 13-16) and the Masters (April 10-13) are two possible target dates for a Woods return, though his comments would put even that in doubt.
Back and leg injuries leave Woods a constant question mark for participating in Tour events, let alone trying to win them.
He is invested, however, in making the TGL a success, and with an ESPN television deal likely, felt it was important for him to partake in Tuesday’s primetime match, which Jupiter dropped to the New York Golf Club, 10-3.
Woods committed a massive blunder when he hit a wedge when he was 199 yards away from the hole, thinking he heard he was only 99 yards away when asking.
The miscue caused teammates Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner to drop to the floor in laughter.
“One of the most embarrassing moments in my golfing career just happened,” Woods said on the broadcast. “I just screwed up. That was embarrassing.”
