There were hopes that Tiger Woods would return to the PGA Tour next week for The Players Championship, but golf appears to have a backseat in recent weeks following the passing of his mother

Tiger Woods has admitted that his ‘heart is not really into’ practicing following the passing of his mother Kultida last month.

Woods was set to make a return to the PGA Tour at the Genesis Invitational as tournament host in February, but withdrew in the build-up due to the death of his mum. He has since made two TGL appearances, the latest coming on Tuesday as Jupiter Links lost to Atlanta Drive.

Speaking after the clash at the SoFi Center Woods opened up on his detachment from the game: “This is the third time I’ve touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven’t really gotten into it,” he commented. “My heart is really not into practicing right now.”

In addition to mourning his mother, Woods also mentioned his involvement with the PGA Tour’s policy board as a factor keeping him away from honing in on his game: “I’ve had so many other things to do with the Tour and trying to do other things,” he said, indicating his focus has been elsewhere.

“Once I start probably feeling a little bit better and start getting into it, I’ll start looking at the schedule.” There had been hopes that Woods would tee it up at next week’s Players Championship having missed the Genesis, but a start now looks doubtful

The 15-time major champion has no competed since last summer’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, where challenging conditions down the Scottish coast saw him miss the cut. He also failed to make the weekend at the US Open and PGA Championship but maintained his impressive run at the Masters, having not missed the cut since being a 20-year-old amateur in 1996.

Tiger Woods was in TGL action on Tuesday ( Image: Getty Images)

If he decides against playing at TPC Sawgrass next week, all eyes will be on whether he’ll appear at this year’s Masters, which is just over a month away. Since his comeback from life-changing injuries sustained in a car crash in February 2021, Woods has participated in the last three Masters tournaments, starting with his return in 2022.

He endured another injury-ridden year in 2024, leading to back surgery in September and subsequently missing the Hero World Challenge in December. Speaking at Torrey Pines last month though, the 82-time PGA Tour winner expressed a desire to compete more at the highest level.

“My goal was to play more and I haven’t played. Got to work on that,” he said at Genesis. “This process was unexpected. I’ll get back after it and look forward to playing some bigger events.”