Masters

Tiger Woods turned 50 in December.

He’s four months removed from disk replacement surgery in his lower back — the same back that has endured six other operations, including spinal fusion in 2017.

Woods won’t be taking part in this week’s Genesis Invitational, a tournament he has hosted since 2020, as he continues to recover from that procedure. The 15-time major championship winner told reporters at Riviera Country Club on Tuesday that he has been able to start taking full golf shots during his training.

Still, the 2026 Masters tournament is less than two months away. So considering everything mentioned above, it would seem pretty unlikely that Woods would be ready to compete in the first major championship of the year.

Right?

Well, a reporter asked Woods quite simply, “Is the Masters off the table for you?”

Woods gave an even simpler answer.

“No,” he said without hesitation or further elaboration. He did give a slight smile after a brief pause, for what that’s worth.

It should come as no surprise that Woods would be doing everything he can to be able to play April 9-12 at Augusta National. He has won the event five times, most recently in 2019.

Woods famously played in the 2022 Masters just 14 months after a catastrophic rollover car accident — and actually made the cut before finishing at 13-over par. He last played the Masters in 2024, making the cut for a record 24th time but finished with a 16-over 304, his highest 72-hole score.

Woods missed all of the 2025 season as he recovered from a back surgery the previous year and surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon in March. He spoke Tuesday on the multiple challenges he faces in attempting to return to the PGA Tour and also brought up the possibility of playing on the PGA Champions circuit.

“The disc replacement has been one thing. It’s been a challenge to have had a fused back and now a disc replacement. So it’s challenging,” said Woods, who added that his back is still sore following the most recent procedure.

“And I entered a new decade. So that number is starting to sink in and has [me] thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart. That’s something that, as I’ve said, I won’t do out here on this tour, because I don’t believe in it. But you know, on the Champions tour, that’s certainly an opportunity.”

Tiger Woods says competing at this year’s Masters is “not off the table” but the 15-time major champion still has no timetable for his return.

Woods, who turned 50 on 30 December, underwent surgery in October to replace a disc in his back.

It was the latest in a series of operations and injuries that have kept the American sidelined since missing the cut at The Open in July 2024.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing,” said Woods.

“I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again.”

Speaking at the Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles, where he hosts this week’s Genesis Invitational, Woods said he has progressed from chipping and putting practice and is now “able to” hit full shots.

“Not well every day, but I can hit them,” he said.

“As far as the disc replacement, it’s just sore. It takes time. My body has been through a lot.”

Woods claimed his fifth Masters title in 2019, ending an 11-year major championship drought, and added that he had not ruled out competing at Augusta from 9-12 April.

He suffered severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash before undergoing a back operation in September 2024 and suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon last March.

“I’ve had a fused back and now a disc replacement, so it’s challenging,” said the 50-year-old. “Now I’ve entered a new decade so that number is starting to sink in and has us thinking about the opportunity to be able to play in a cart [on the Champions Tour].”

Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, started the final round two shots ahead of Jacob Skov Olesen.

The Dane shot a one-under 71 and ended in a tie for third with American Johannes Veerman.

Meanwhile, Reed carded a second consecutive two-under round of 70 to ensure victory, despite Hill hitting an impressive five-under 67 to finish second outright.

“Golf feels good at the minute,” said the 31-year-old Hill.

“I feel like I did a lot of things well and if you put me in that position again I feel like I could convert from there.”

Last month, Reed became the second high-profile American to leave LIV and return to the PGA Tour after Brooks Koepka.

American Koepka is able to play on the PGA Tour straight away after it recently introduced a new returning member programme.

It allows players who have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years and have won The Players Championship or a major between 2022 and 2025 to play again on the series, with the avenue closing on 2 February.

However, Reed does not meet that criteria and rules dictate he will not be eligible to play on the PGA Tour again until August – a year after his last LIV appearance.

Luke Littler won the World Masters for the first time and became the joint-third most successful player in PDC history with a 6-5 win over Luke Humphries.

The teenager now has 11 major PDC titles, leaving him level with James Wade and behind only Michael van Gerwen (48) and Phil Taylor (79).

The win for Littler, which followed on from beating Gerwyn Price 5-4 in a terrific match in the semi-finals, has left the European Championship as the only major television PDC title still to be won by the two-time world champion.

A high-quality finale saw 25 maximums thrown as the lead changed hands multiple times before Littler eventually nailed his favourite double 10 to seal the £100,000 first prize.

After a semi-final that saw Price miss a match dart, Littler upped his level from the start. A stunning 153 checkout laid down the gauntlet to Humphries, but the world number two came into the final having beaten Gian van Veen 5-0 in the last four and continued in that form by winning the opening set.

Littler, who averaged 104.72 to Humphries’ 105.51 in the final, then powered into a 3-1 lead, hitting a 121 finish along the way. But Humphries did not want to concede the title he won last year and levelled the match.

With the score at 3-1 to the world champion, Humphries rallied with 10 and 13-dart legs on his way to levelling the match.

Littler missed three darts to move into a 5-3 lead and Humphries capitalised to level again before hitting his first 100-plus checkout on his way to moving one set away from another title.

But Littler was not done there. The 19-year-old reeled off legs in 13 and then 12 darts to force a deciding set.

A break of throw in the first leg of the deciding set gave Littler control and he did not let it slip. One dart at double 10 was all he needed to land his first World Masters title.

All four of the semi-finalists will be back in action when the 2026 Premier League starts in Newcastle on Thursday.

World number one Judd Trump will take on Ali Carter in the semi-finals of the German Masters after a 5-3 victory over Xiao Guodong in which the pair shared four centuries.

Trump compiled breaks of 107 and 105 open a 2-0 lead and then finished strongly after Guodong recovered with contributions of 104 and 120 before edging ahead by taking the fifth frame.

The world number one, however, would not be denied and took three in a row, with his Chinese opponent failing to score in two of those frames.

Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen was knocked out by Damon Heta on the opening night of the World Masters in Milton Keynes.

The 36-year-old Dutchman – who won the Masters five times in a row between 2015 and 2019 – lost 3-1 to Australian number one Heta, who checked out 101 to seal his victory.

World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen was solid on his Masters debut, progressing 3-1 past Ryan Joyce despite losing the first set, while former world champion Gerwyn Price racked up a three-dart average of 108.51 to defeat in-form James Hurrell.

Jonny Clayton – last year’s beaten Masters finalist – saw off Wessel Nijman 3-1, with Nathan Aspinall defeating Shane McGuirk by the same scoreline.

Defending Masters champion Luke Humphries and world champion Luke Littler – the world number one – both enter the tournament on Friday.