It Sure Sounds Like We Won't See Tiger Woods for a While

Fine, I’ll say it. I miss Tiger Woods. Golf really isn’t the same without him, which makes the thought of not having him around in the future a real buzz-kill.

We last saw him on the PGA TOUR back in July at Royal Troon, and it’s been a roller coaster of emotions since.

At the Hero World Challenge, he said he wasn’t tournament sharp. Then, at the PNC Championship, he and Charlie lost in a playoff. Yes, I know it’s a hit-and-giggle event, but you’d be lying to yourself if you said his game didn’t look pretty damn good—plus he walked all 36 holes and that’s really the part folks are most concerned about, just his ability to get around a track for four straight days.

Then last month, he committed to play in the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines but withdrew due to the passing of his mom. “I’m just not ready,” he wrote on social media. His short pledge to play in the TOUR’s third signature event did say one thing, however: his game was ready to go.

Tiger wouldn’t play in an event if he wasn’t ready, he said it himself in the Bahamas.

So, now it’s a waiting game to see when we’ll see the GOAT back on the game’s biggest stage. But judging by his recent quote from his latest TGL match, it doesn’t sound like we’ll see him anytime soon.

“This is the third time I've touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven't really gotten into it,” Tiger said. “My heart is not really into practicing 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.”

Those “other things” for the TOUR include a recent trip to the White House to visit with President Donald Trump, Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund for a meeting about the game’s future—don’t hold your breath, Monahan said Tuesday that a deal isn’t imminent.

Tiger played in the Seminole Pro-Member on Monday alongside his caddie, Lance Bennett. This sent social media into a mini frenzy, hoping this was a sign we’d see the 15-time major champion at TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS next week. But after hearing Tiger at the SoFi Center, that dream is all but dead.

If he was healthy enough to play in the Genesis, you have to think he’d be healthy enough to play in the Masters come April. But it sure sounds like won’t see him before that.

But who knows, maybe this is all a smoke screen. Maybe we’ll see him in Ponte Vedra.

Or maybe I’m just delusional, who could say?