Six weeks in a Swiss rehab facility, a DUI charge, prosecutors now accessing his prescription records, and not a single post on social media since April. For most athletes, that would read like a farewell. For Tiger Woods, those around him insist it is anything but that.

“Golf is very much on Tiger’s mind and will be in the coming months as he gets back to it here in whatever ways he can,” a golf source told PEOPLE. The source was direct about where his head is: “He is not a quitter.” Woods, per the same source, “thinks he is fine and can enter the game at whatever level is comfortable at the time.”

That confidence isn’t just words in the air. Two weeks before the 2008 U.S. Open, an MRI revealed Woods had a double stress fracture in his left tibia and a torn ACL in his left knee. Doctors warned him that the bone could completely snap. He played anyway, all 72 holes at Torrey Pines, sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force an 18-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate.

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He won, then went straight into reconstructive knee surgery. Then came the 2019 Masters—his 15th major—won after four back surgeries, including a 2017 spinal fusion. That comeback alone took 11 years from his previous major title.

The calendar still offers him real opportunities, though. The 15x major winner holds an exemption for the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, running from July 12 to 19, 2026. He will play the Hero World Challenge from December 3 to 6 in the Bahamas, and the PNC Championship with his son Charlie from December 17 to 20 in Orlando. And before the car crash, he was preparing for the Masters 2026.

Tiger Woods touched down in Palm Beach on May 13, stepping off his Gulfstream G550 after six weeks abroad, dressed in a black t-shirt and grey shorts. Because as much as those around him are confident about his return, there is still one significant obstacle standing between him and a golf course.

On March 27, police arrested Tiger Woods on DUI charges following a rollover crash, and they found two hydrocodone pills on him. He pleaded not guilty and entered a Swiss pain-management facility. On May 12, 2026, the court granted the prosecutors access to his pharmacy records from January through March 2026. The case remains open.

The Swiss facility runs programs of up to 90 days. Woods’ return after roughly 40 days leaves it unclear whether he completed it early or came back because of legal pressure. A protective order keeps the pharmacy records from the public.

His absence has already cost ESPN 28% viewership in the early rounds.

Golf in transition: Who fills the Tiger Woods void?

USGA CEO Mike Whan put it simply to Front Office Sports: “When you say no Tiger or Phil, I’ll never think about the 2026 Masters as that. I’ll think about it as the year Rory threw a back-to-back on us.”

Whan knows this pattern well from his 12 years as LPGA commissioner, where the tour survived life after Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa. Today, Nelly Korda has matched two of Sorenstam’s historic records, including five consecutive wins in a season and six top-10 finishes to start a year.

On the men’s side, Scottie Scheffler is writing his own chapter. He matched Woods by winning his first four majors in exactly 1,197 days, became only the second player ever to win three straight Player of the Year awards, and in 2024 won seven times in a season, a feat unseen since Tiger in 2007.

Despite Woods’ absence, the 2026 Masters final peaked at over 20 million on CBS, the network’s best since 2013, with McIlroy winning back-to-back. The sport did not wait for Tiger. It moved forward anyway.