Tiger Woods doesn’t owe the game anything.
He could leave it all behind—especially given pro golf’s moribund state—and nobody would blame him.
And yet Woods, who will turn 48 tomorrow, could be ready to have one of the most impactful years of his career in 2024. It’s a lofty statement given everything he has accomplished but it might be true.
Even as he slows down from a competitive standpoint, his presence in the game continues to be important. PGA Tour action no longer revolves around his domination but his voice has never been as relevant.
Here are a Few Reasons Why Woods Could Have a Compelling 2024:
1. Woods has an Outsized Role in Guiding Pro Golf Forward.
This past August, Woods joined the PGA Tour policy board for the first time, becoming a sixth player director.
His increased involvement in guiding the future of the tour comes at a crucial time.
The tour is in existential crisis mode, negotiating with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in an effort to join forces. If the negotiation is mishandled or the resulting partnership doesn’t mend a divided pro golf landscape, a lot of the attention Woods generated for the pro game over the past 25 years could erode.
“It would be pretty easy for him to just hide under a rock the rest of his life and be just fine,” said fellow tour player Justin Thomas. “But that’s not who he is. He wants to continue to see the PGA Tour grow and succeed.”
Woods has been a staunch tour supporter from the start, reportedly turning down an astronomical offer from LIV Golf.
When he stayed on the tour’s side, Woods undoubtedly convinced many of the game’s top stars to stay with him. Only three of the top 25 players in the Official World Golf Ranking have left for LIV.
If Woods had jumped to LIV, there may not have been any framework agreement or potential partnership because LIV might have taken over as the superior product with the superior resources.
He won’t be acting alone in deciding the tour’s future but everyone will be listening to him. Rory McIlroy recently stepped back from the policy board three months after Woods joined. It was a passing of the baton to his close friend.
Where he will have a critical influence is in the structure of the tour. All signs point to professional golf needing to become more limited to top-tier talent, ensuring the game’s best play against each other more often. Woods pushed for that in the summer of 2022 when a group of top players had a meeting during a FedEx Cup playoff event in Delaware.
As a young pro, Woods helped drive purses up and increased commercial involvement in the game.
Now he has a chance to defend the house he helped build.
2. Tiger Could be Selected as the Next Ryder Cup Captain.
After the Americans’ embarrassing loss to the Europeans this fall, support for a Tiger Woods Ryder Cup captaincy has been deafening.
It was always assumed that Phil Mickelson would lead the U.S. into battle at Bethpage in 2025. He has a longstanding love affair with the New York fans and has played in 12 Ryder Cups.
But Mickelson torched more than a few bridges during his move to LIV, likely taking his name out of captain consideration for now.
Woods is an obvious choice. On top of his Ryder Cup playing experience, he has been heavily involved as an assistant captain. He also captained the U.S. Presidents Cup team to victory in 2019.
The Europeans have announced that Luke Donald is returning after a fruitful captaincy in Rome. If the past is any indication, the Americans will pick their leader this February or March.
The Americans are looking for a home-run hire, especially given the sudden shaky belief in U.S. team golf. A win on home soil (the host side has won five straight Ryder Cups) feels like a must.
Woods, for his part, is focused on the game’s future at the moment.
“We have to get this done and we have to be focused on this right now,” Woods said of the tour’s negotiations with the PIF. “The Ryder Cup can take a beat. The players and everyone involved understands that this is an issue we need to focus on.”
Still, this is Tiger’s Ryder Cup captaincy if he wants it.
“Tiger’s into a lot of stuff right now but it’s kind of his call … he’s the next logical choice,” said former U.S. captain Davis Love III.
3. We Could See a lot More of Woods on the Course.
Following a sensational comeback stretch in 2018-2019, Woods hasn’t played much competitive golf.
He was mediocre across nine starts in 2020 and then his car accident came in February 2021. He didn’t play any tournament golf that year given the serious injury to his right leg.
Woods has a combined five official starts since then. Although he made the cut twice in the Masters over that period, his best finish was a tie for 45th in the Genesis Invitational. He could barely walk around Augusta National during last year’s Masters and he opted for ankle fusion surgery after that appearance.
It felt like we were finally seeing Woods fully transition into ceremonial golfer status.
That may still be the case but there is some reason for cautious optimism.
Woods looked good walking 72 holes at the Hero World Challenge. He got to use a cart at the PNC Championship a couple of weeks later but he did walk during the practice round.
The biggest news is that he hopes to play a lot more golf next year. It could be realistic to see him at as many as eight tournaments. It’s a big ask but he said the best scenario for him would be “maybe a tournament a month” during the competition schedule.
“If I’m able to practice and do the things I know I can do and prepare, I know I can still do it,” Woods said. “I can still hit the golf ball. It’s just a matter of prepping and getting enough reps in and getting enough work in and being right physically and the endurance capability of it.”
The expectation is to see Woods open his season at the Genesis Invitational in February. We are then thinking he could play one event in March, such as the Players Championship, to gear up for the Masters in April.
The PGA Championship is in May at Valhalla where he won the 2000 PGA in a playoff over Bob May. The U.S. Open is in June at Pinehurst No. 2. Woods isn’t currently qualified for the U.S. Open—the only of the four majors he isn’t exempt for—but it’s expected he would receive a special exemption. That leaves the Open Championship at Royal Troon in July.
It is unlikely he qualifies for the FedEx Cup playoffs or the Olympics, so anything after the Open Championship could be gravy.
Everything depends on how his body feels. One or two setbacks and he could be done for the year.
The question of whether he can still compete is a reasonable one. We haven’t seen him with a chance to win a PGA Tour event since well before LIV disrupted the golf world.
But at least there is hope he can give it a go. Golf is better with him playing.
4. Woods Could be Parting Ways With NIKE.
Is this the end of Tiger’s 27-year partnership with NIKE?
Rumors have been swirling that one of the most noteworthy athlete-apparel relationships in sports history could be coming to a close. So far, all we have is those rumors. Woods didn’t clarify much earlier this month.
“I’m still wearing their product,” Woods said before answering a follow-up question with the exact same line.
Woods has been with the company since turning pro in 1996, making a reported $500 million over the life of the partnership. He played NIKE clubs starting in the early 2000s but Nike exited the hard goods business in 2016. That left Woods to transition to TaylorMade clubs and a Bridgestone ball.
While continuing to don NIKE apparel, Woods has been wearing FootJoy shoes since the 2022 Masters, citing an increased stability with the new shoes.
TaylorMade has been hinting at getting more involved in the apparel space. Multiple job postings by the brand have been spotted as they look to hire for a “new apparel division.”
There is speculation NIKE could leave the golf apparel industry entirely but they still have deals with the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, Nelly Korda and Tommy Fleetwood. There are a few TaylorMade players in that stable so there could be a connection there.
If Woods does part ways, it will be a major story. We will be following this one closely.
5. TGL is Still on the Horizon.
This upcoming year could have been much busier for Woods if TGL started on time.
However, a massive storm caused a delay in construction of the league’s arena. Now we will have to wait until 2025 to see the new indoor league that promises souped-up simulator golf in front of a live audience.
Woods has been a driving force in TGL’s creation. He partnered with McIlroy and former Golf Channel president Mike McCarley to found TMRW Sports, the sports and entertainment company behind TGL. He also is an owner of Jupiter Links GC, one of the six teams competing in the league.
It’s clear he was one of the leading voices behind blending the physical with the virtual to create this new golf world. The arena will feature real grass for full shots as well as a green complex that can change contours.
And as strange as it is to say out loud, maybe that could become more accepted as “real golf” in the future, especially given the explosion of Topgolf, Puttshack and other alternate forms of the game.
Woods could do an hour of stand-up comedy and draw serious ratings. The fact he will be playing some version of golf, against a roster of the game’s best, will garner considerable attention.
Remember that Tiger, Mickelson, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady played a made-for-TV match in 2020 and drew an average of 5.8 million viewers. That was the most-watched golf event in cable television history.
TGL will be ignored by many but it has serious backers and could still be successful.
Woods’ support will obviously be key. After a false start, he figures to be pushing for TGL to still have a fair shot when it is scheduled to get started 12 months from now.
Gordo
4 months ago
Tiger is most likely done as a Tour Pro golfer unless he wants to try to play Champions Tour. Every person on earth, if they live long enough, has their “unraveling”. Whether your Gordie Howe, Muhammad Ali, or Big Bill Russell etc.,etc., it comes by the chance of injury, accident or the certainty of age. Tiger’s a fool for pushing a physical injury to final failure. Anyone who doubts he plays full of pain killers is probably fooling themselves! As great as he used to be the greatness gets sullied … because he was Tiger. How? Using the gallery (outside agents) to move a 1 ton boulder because he got an official to agree it was a loose impediment. The intent of the rule has always been that the player HIMSELF would move the impediment…as if there were no gallery (or a local construction company) to move the impediment which would not leave a mark in the soil. The incorrect score card at the Masters because of an illegal drop. Any one who plays knows that you keep the point from where the ball ENTERS the hazard between you and the hole and you can go back as far as you want for your drop. He was not DQ’d because he was Tiger…. others would have been. DJ was not treated the same when he grounded his club in an area where the gallery was walking. Both players said they were “unaware” it was illegal play but only one was punished for it. My only personal wish is that Tiger retire before doing more damage to a leg he’s lucky to have kept ….. and, I know, he’s a big boy and a fierce competitor and all that, but I hate to see that happen to any great athlete. And, yes I hated watching Ali be a punching bag pug before he hung them up!