Tiger Woods (Achilles surgery recovery) will not be playing in the 2025 Masters Tournament.
When 95 of the world’s best players descend on Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, for the first major of the 2025 season, there will be one glaring omission.
The Masters simply isn’t the same without Tiger Woods.
It was here that, in 1997, Woods completed his rapid ascent to greatness, firing an 18-under-par 270 across four rounds at Augusta National for a 12-shot victory as just a 21-year-old, a margin that still stands as the largest in tournament history. Woods went on to win four more green jackets, in 2001, 2002, 2005, and, most memorably, in 2019.
He won’t get the chance to try for a record-tying sixth this weekend, though. After missing the cut at the 2024 Open Championship, he underwent lower-back surgery in September. Then, while ramping up for a return — undoubtedly with the goal of extending his record of 24 consecutive cuts made at The Masters — he suffered a torn left Achilles tendon and underwent surgery, keeping him out of the season’s first major, and, quite possibly, for the rest of the 2025 PGA TOUR season.
Last February, two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer tore his left Achilles and returned to competition after just three months, but Langer plays on the PGA TOUR Champions, which allows players to use a cart during competitive rounds, so his recovery timeline isn’t realistic for Woods. Woods should be good to go by the 2026 tournament, at least; after intending for last season to be his final Masters appearance, the 66-year-old Langer will bid farewell to the tournament this weekend instead.
Given his struggles in recent years, Woods was unlikely to be a factor on the leaderboard this weekend regardless. In 2024, Woods appeared in five tournaments — the Genesis Invitational, which he hosts, plus the four major championships — withdrew from one, missed the cut at three, and finished 60th at The Masters after posting his first-ever round in the 80’s at Augusta National.
This weekend, Scottie Scheffler has a chance to do something Woods never did; although eight different players, including Woods, have donned the green jacket at least three separate times, only Jack Nicklaus has done it in a four-year span. Scheffler opens the tournament as a +400 favoriteopens in a new tab at DraftKings Sportsbookopens in a new tab.
