Tiger Woods wants to play again. All he needs to figure out right now is his health. He said at the Hero World Challenge. While the world waits to see whether he will tee off at the PGA Tour or the PGA Tour Champions, many want it to be the latter. But NBC broadcaster Mark Rolfing is urging restraint. Speaking on Golf Channel, he delivered a bold confession.

“I’m sure he is tempted. My kind of hope is that he doesn’t, Rich,” Rolfing told Rich Lerner. “I think Tiger has carved a tremendous legacy on the golf course. It’ll never be challenged again. I truly don’t think it will be even as good as Scottie Scheffler is right now.”

Tiger Woods has 82 PGA Tour titles, including his 15 majors, tied for the most of all time with Sam Snead. He made 142 consecutive cuts from 1998 to 2005. He spent a record-breaking 683 weeks at world no. 1, which is about thirteen years. And even once he held the position for 281 consecutive weeks. This legacy is absolutely untouchable. But even if someone breaks that someday, the financial revolution that comes with Woods is impossible to beat.

Before he arrived, a Masters winner took home only 450,000 dollars in late 1996. By 2008, that winner’s prize jumped to a massive total of 1.35 million dollars. His presence caused tournament prize money to increase by 13 percent every single year. But Woods was destined to do something even bigger; his dad always believed this.

Earl Woods always said his son would eventually change the entire world forever. When Woods was just at the dawn of his career after winning the third straight U.S. Amateur and two Tour events in 1996, Earl Woods told Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith something bold.

“Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity,” Earl said. Smith was skeptical and followed up in a sarcastic way, asking if Woods does more than Buddha, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela? Earl didn’t hesitate before tackling that saying, “Yes, because he has a larger forum than any of them.”

That’s why Rolfing thinks the second half of Woods’ life should belong to off-course activity and charity.

“I think there’s a chance that he can still do what his dad was saying and change the world big time. And I think the second half of his life, if it was dedicated to off-course type of activities, the one that he’s engaged in now, which is the future competitions committee, I think all of that is going to be good. I’d love to see him do more and more charity work. He’s really good at that,” Rolfing added.

Currently, Tiger Woods serves as the Chairman of the Future Competitions Committee that aims to better the PGA Tour. Woods is also making golf more accessible to younger audiences with the tech-infused TGL league. Co-founded by Tiger Woods and his parents, Earl and Tida Woods, in 1996, the TGR Foundation reached its massive 30th anniversary in 2026. It has already helped over 217,000 students and junior golfers find a much better path.

The foundation currently organizes many programs and events like the TGR Learning Labs, Hero World Challenge, Genesis Open, The National, and Tiger Jam to help these golfers from under-resourced communities.

However, the path to any return is currently blocked by painful injuries. Woods underwent his seventh back surgery in October 2025 to repair a collapsed disc in his spine. And though he remains determined to make another comeback, Woods admitted that his recovery is not moving as fast as he would like to see. This recent surgery follows a ruptured Achilles tendon that he suffered earlier in that same year.

Now, whether Tiger Woods will play on the senior circuit remains to be seen, and everyone knows the Big Cat is the only one who moves the needle.

Top Stories

PGA Tour Makes Feelings Clear as $14 Billion Sponsor Cuts All Ties After 17 Years

Brooks Koepka Approaches PGA Tour With an Impossible Request After LIV Golf Departure

Jordan Spieth Takes Firm PGA Tour Decision After Hitting Rock Bottom

Brooks Koepka’s Fate Lies in Tiger Woods’s Hands as His PGA Tour Return Intentions Become Public

PGA Tour Pro Rejecting 8-figure LIV Golf Offer Forces Re-Signing of Sacked Golfer

Senior pros share their thoughts on Tiger Woods’ return

Graham DeLaet saw Tiger Woods hit an impossible shot despite his severe back pain at the 2015 Players Championship. DeLaet beat Woods that day, but Woods hit a shot from the trees that curved over the water with ease. Moments like this show why writing off the superstar has rarely ended well for his opponents. Still, DeLaet doesn’t ignore the physical challenges and how hard it will be for Woods to remain competitive with these physical challenges, given his own struggle with back fusions that ended his own career too early.

Trevor Immelman also believes that his old friend will eventually return to compete in regular events. He famously lost a bet against Woods when Woods won the 2019 Masters title. “Yes, I do think he comes back,” Immelman said at the Awful Announcing Podcast. “I have been the fool who bet against Tiger Woods in the past, and it cost me mightily. I didn’t believe he could win a major again, and then he turns around and wins the 2019 Masters.”

Woods himself wants to keep playing because he wants to compete once again. “Let me get back to playing again; let me do that, and I’ll figure out the schedule. I just got cleared last week to chip and putt,” Woods said.  So, what happens next is yet to be seen, and we don’t know how things will change further.

But what we do know is that a silent clock is ticking regarding Woods’ official standing in the World Golf Ranking system. The 15-time major winner could lose his world ranking entirely by the middle of 2026. His current ranking has plummeted to an all-time low of 2590 due to long inactivity. So he must play in a ranked event before July to keep his name on the list. Otherwise, losing his ranking would be a sad end to a truly historic era.