Tiger Woods has yet to confirm, one way or the other, if he will be teeing it up at the Masters in two weeks, but at least one prominent person has ruled him out: Donald Trump.
The U.S. president made the claim during a TV appearance on Thursday, saying that Woods will not be competing at the biggest event on the golf calendar.
During a phone interview on Fox News’ The Five, Trump said the golfing legend wouldn’t be at Augusta National in April — before clarifying that Woods would be there, but won’t be competing.
“I love Tiger, but he won’t be there,” Trump said. “He will be there, but he won’t be playing in it.”
While the revelation could easily be brushed off as mere speculation by the president, Trump does have close ties to Woods. The golf star is dating Trump’s former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, who shares five children with Donald Trump Jr. The couple had been married from 2005-18.
Trump’s announcement also came before Woods reportedly was involved in a rollover car crash in Jupiter, Fla., on Friday afternoon.
As of Friday at 4 p.m., there were no details on any injuries potentially sustained in the crash.
Woods hasn’t competed in a full golf tournament since the 2024 Open Championship. Since then, he has undergone two back surgeries — his most recent was lumbar disk replacement surgery in October 2025 — and suffered a torn Achilles last March.
However, he did return to competitive golf earlier this week, teeing off for his Jupiter Links team against Los Angeles Golf Club in the second match of TGL’s final at SoFi Center on Tuesday.
Woods played in front of a live crowd for the first time in more than a year in the simulator-based indoor golf league.
Woods, who has won the Masters five times in his illustrious career, had spent the season supporting teammates Max Homa, Tom Kim and Kevin Kisner.
Woods took the place of Kisner for Tuesday’s matchup, but could not help his team win. LA recorded three consecutive eagles on the way to a 9-2 victory and the TGL championship.
What has Tiger said about playing?
“I’ve been trying. Just this body is … it doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn’t mean I’m not trying,” Woods said after the final. “I’ve been trying for a while. I’ve had a couple bad injuries here over the past years that I’ve had to fight through and it’s taken some time.
“But I keep trying. I want to play. I love the tournament. I’ve loved being there since I was 19 years old. It’s meant a lot to me and my family over the years. I’m going to be there either way with ‘The Loop’ that’s going up there, as well as the Champions Dinner.”
Last week Woods had commented about the possibility of returning to play in TGL, saying that he had been trying to get into a match all season.
“Well, I think that I have been trying to play each and every one of these matches. I’ve been trying to come back. But it just hasn’t worked out that way,” Woods said last week about possibly playing a TGL match, per Golf Digest.
“I’ve had a bad run of injuries last year. I think it’s been a year and a few days since I blew out my Achilles (last March). And so then I’ve had two back operations. So it’s been a little rough go.
“But the guys here, this team, we have so much fun, I really don’t want to screw up the lineup, I just want these guys to keep playing.