It’s only four weeks until the 2026 Masters. As the event approaches its scheduled date, one question on the minds of every golf fan is whether Tiger Woods will play the major. Although there is no confirmation from the Big Cat himself, the World No. 2 Rory McIlroy has shared updates that will not please many fans hoping for Woods to play the 2026 Masters.

“🚨❌⛳️ #NEW — Rory McIlroy told @pbpost pretty definitively that he doesn’t think Tiger will play at TGL on Tuesday night. We are now inside of 4 weeks to The Masters,” TWLEGION wrote in an X post.

The post featured two images. One was of Tiger Woods playing at a TGL event, and the other was a screenshot of the Palm Beach Post article that the post referred to. The screenshot shed light on McIlroy’s comment about Woods potentially playing a TGL event before Season 2 ends.

“No. Absolutely, no. I don’t think so,” the Northern Irishman said.

Tiger Woods underwent L4-L5 lumbar disc replacement surgery on October 10, 2025. He was facing nagging pain and mobility issues before the surgery. It was his 7th back procedure within just a decade. Besides that, he also had surgery in March 2025 for a ruptured left Achilles tendon. Thus, he didn’t play the entire PGA Tour 2025 season.

Since the back surgery, the 82-time PGA Tour winner has been resting and recovering. After months of rest, he has already started moving around and even going out in public. He has been to many of Charlie Woods’ events to encourage him. In fact, he also went to the SoFi Center for a TGL match on January 13, 2026. However, he was there just to watch, not to play. He did hit an iron shot before the official match began, though.

As Tiger Woods had already made it to the SoFi Center once this season, fans were wondering if he would play any TGL match, and the Palm Beach Post got an opportunity to ask Rory McIlroy about this.

Sadly, the 29x PGA Tour winner confirmed that he may not play in any TGL match. While his debut in the TGL Season 2 is already a foregone conclusion, the World No. 2’s comments also raise concerns about the Big Cat’s return to professional golf at the 2026 Masters.

The Masters is now about 3-4 weeks away. Tiger Woods is a five-time champion at the event, which is one of his favorites. In fact, his last major win came at the 2019 Masters. The American professional has already been playing regular events for several years. However, he continued to play majors and one or two other events until 2024. In fact, he even missed a few majors in recent years, but always played in the Masters.

For instance, he only played in the Masters in 2023 (had to withdraw), alongside the Genesis Invitational and the Hero World Challenge. A year before that, he played in the Masters, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship. In 2020, he played in the Masters, the US Open, and the Zozo Championship.

This shows that the Masters was a regular stop regardless of how many events he plays in total. That’s the reason fans expected that after a year-long hiatus from professional golf, Tiger Woods would probably return at the 2026 Masters. However, those hopes are shattering after Rory McIlroy’s latest comments.

Some hopes still remain, though.

Tiger Woods didn’t rule out playing in the 2026 Masters

Ahead of the 2026 Genesis Invitational, the media had the opportunity to interact with Tiger Woods. Since he is the host of the event, he was out there to answer their questions.

When asked if he is ruling out the Masters 2026 because of the back surgery, the 82x PGA Tour winner gave a blunt “No.”

“I’m trying [to come back], put it that way,” Woods said at the media press conference.

This was his first public comment about his potential return after the latest surgeries sidelined him. In 2025, he could not play in any event on the PGA Tour because of Achilles tendon and back surgeries. The Achilles tendon surgery, performed in March 2025, ruled him out of the Masters and the other majors. Then, because of the back surgery in October, he even had to break the tradition of playing with Charlie Woods at the PNC Championship.

However, his comments reflect that despite the challenges, he is still aiming to make a comeback at the Masters 2026.

Tiger Woods had a brief but firm response about the 2026 Masters. Thus, despite Rory McIlroy’s skepticism about a TGL appearance, there’s a chance that fans could see the 15x major champion back at Augusta National in April 2026.