Tiger Woods could be set to miss the Players Championship after admitting his “heart is really not into practicing right now” as he grieves his late mother.

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Tiger Woods has seen his golf game impacted by factors away from the greens and fairways (Image: Megan Briggs/TGL, TGL Golf via Getty Images)

Tiger Woods has cast doubt over his participation in the upcoming Players Championship, admitting that he’s currently not in the mindset for practice. The 49-year-old legend had a tough time at the Tomorrow’s Golf League (TGL) on Monday, witnessing his Jupiter Links Golf Club team suffer a heavy 9-1 loss to Atlanta Drive.

Despite being one of the masterminds behind the league with Rory McIlroy, both their teams were eliminated after the first regular season. Woods, who is mourning the recent loss of his mother Kultida, pulled out of the Genesis Invitational and has struggled to concentrate on golf. He told Sports Illustrated: “This is the third time I’ve touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven’t really gotten into it.

“My heart is really not into practising right now. I’ve had so many other things to do with the Tour and trying to do other things. Once I start probably feeling a little bit better and start getting into it, I’ll start looking at the schedule.”

Amidst his personal sorrow, Woods has also been a key figure in steering the future of golf, serving on the PGA Tour’s policy board and engaging in talks with President Donald Trump to ease the friction with LIV Golf, reports the Mirror US. Plagued by back and leg issues, he could skip the Players Championship in Vedra Beach, Florida – scheduled for March 13-16 – due to his limited practice.

McIlroy’s former agent, Andrew Chandler, has put forth the view that Woods might even benefit from a hiatus from the sport. He explained to Vision4sport: “I think Tiger would be better stepping away completely for two to three years and then start playing again, if he wanted to. On the seniors. Play about eight seniors tournaments a year. The ones he likes. There’s a theory that the British Seniors Open is going to be on at St Andrews when Tiger’s 50.

Rory McIlroy and Woods both saw their teams knocked out of TGL (Image: Megan Briggs/TGL/TGL via Getty Images)

“I don’t know if Tiger will even be playing in the majors in 2025 but [does] it even make a difference anymore? Do I want to see him down the field? No, I don’t. So if he plays in the majors, I hope he’s at least semi-competitive. Not like how he is at the moment.”

Reflecting on the impact of Woods’ injuries on his career, Chandler added: “It’s all very sad, knowing his record and knowing he’s not competitive. That comeback win in 2019, that was his moment. That was it. All Tiger is doing now is damaging his legacy.”

As some fans continue to hope for a comeback from Woods, who has struggled since his car accident in February 2021, British golfing legend Colin Montgomerie has joined the chorus of voices suggesting that the 15-time major champion should consider retirement. Speaking to The Times after the 2024 US Open, Montgomerie expressed his desire for people to remember Woods at his best.

He said: “I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him. There is none of that now. At Pinehurst he did not seem to enjoy a single shot and you think, ‘what the hell is he doing?’ He’s coming to Troon and he won’t enjoy it there either.”

Reflecting on Woods missing the cut at The Open in 2022, Montgomerie suggested that would have been the perfect moment to retire: “That was the time. Stand on that bridge, start waving, and everyone goes, ‘so, is that it?’ ‘Yeah, it is’. It would have been a glorious way to go. The stands were full, the world’s TV cameras – from all continents – were on him, he’s walking up there on his own, tears were in his eyes obviously… you can’t beat that walk.”

Despite his past two successes at the Players Championship in 2001 and 2013, Woods has not played in the tournament since 2019.