Tour Confidential: Will Tiger Woods actually play on Champions Tour?

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss Tiger Woods’ Champions Tour plans, The Skins Game and more.

Tiger Woods will host (but not play in) his Hero World Challenge this week in the Bahamas, as he’s still recovering from his latest back surgery. Although with Woods’ 50th birthday looming on Dec. 30, it has led to more speculation on whether or not we’ll see Woods play on the 50-and-over Champions Tour in the future. Woods has been mostly mum on the topic over the years, but has dropped some subtle teases. Is Woods playing the Champions Tour in any capacity actually realistic? And could he be successful?

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsensgolf): If he’s healthy enough to stand upright and swing, we will see him, sparingly, owing either to his competitive drive or a partnership deal or some combination of the two. I don’t see how he stays away from it entirely any more than Nicklaus did. And a healthy-enough-to-swing Woods would for sure have a chance to win. 

Jack Hirsh, associate equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): If he can get a cart (and others in the field as well), he will play. We know how competitive he is and if the biggest issue truly is walking (which all evidence supports) then we will see him on the PGA Tour Champions. He’s keeping us in suspense because he just doesn’t want opponents on either tour to know what his game plan is. As for his success … would you bet against him against the same guys he used to whip left, right and upside down? He used to win even with one hand tied behind his back. Now he will show he could do it with only one leg! 

Josh Schrock, news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): I think we could see him here and there on the Champions Tour, but I think if he able to swing and thinks he can play competitively, he will gear everything around playing the majors. Does playing the Boeing Classic help that? We might reach a point where Tiger just plays on the senior tour, but I don’t think he thinks he is there yet. But if he tees it up, of course, he can go out and be successful over 54 holes against guys he beat in his prime. 

Despite his struggles to stay healthy and his game dropping off over the years, Woods is still golf’s biggest draw. What do you think a Woods start on the Champs Tour would do for that circuit? Would it be bigger than that week’s PGA Tour stop?

Sens: There’d be plenty of excitement around it the first time and a ratings bump, but mostly as a kind of curiosity and a nostalgia tour. Kinda like a Bob Dylan concert now. You want to see it. You have to see it at least once. But whether you really need to see it often is another story. Personally, I’d rather remember Woods as the transcendent athlete he was than watch him go through the reps of a nostalgia tour. So yeah. I’m sure it would give the senior circuit a nice little jolt, but wouldn’t it be healthier for everyone – Tiger, fans, tournaments – if we eased up on any on-course hopes and expectations?

Hirsh: Depends on what that week’s PGA Tour stop is. I see him playing in Senior Majors with an occasional appearance at some of the more notable stops like the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach. That tournament doesn’t have any PGA Tour competition. I see him being hesitant to play in something like the Chubb Classic, the Tour’s first mainland stop, because it conflicts with the PGA Tour’s Signature event at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s going to be strategic about when he plays.

Schrock: I’m sure it would inject some energy and cash into the circuit when he does tee it up. It would probably make those events more popular than some lesser PGA Tour events because, as Lydia Ko said, even those who don’t know golf know Tiger Woods. But it would be more of a nostalgia, feel-good viewing experience than anything and that only goes so far. 

The Skins Game returned to TV on Friday, as Keegan Bradley, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele battled it out on Panther National in Florida. What did you like? What didn’t you like? And was it enough to prove it has staying power?

Sens: My feelings about the event were like partially reheated turkey: lukewarm. The players were all likable and some of the banter, Xander’s in particular, was entertaining. But the sums they were playing for were obnoxious (unless I missed it, was there even a passing mention of any proceeds going to charity), and the disingenuousness of a broadcast that pretended we should be excited about how much each guy was banking – as opposed to being put off by it – gave me post-Thanksgiving agita.

Hirsh: Meh, I found myself having it on in the background while I was doing some Black Friday Amazon-ing. I enjoyed Keegan boatracing everyone and showing what could have been at the Ryder Cup (holds back angry tears). Panther National looked cool as well. But I’m with Josh. It fills a sports void on Black Friday morning, which I guess is worth something.

Schrock: Like most of golf’s one-off attempts to grab eyeballs, it was meh. It had some good moments. The personalities were entertaining enough, but I once again think golf should steer into the do less, not more lane that Brian Rolapp seems to be heading toward. These singular events are OK every once in a while, but I don’t think they need to return as a Black Friday tradition ahead of the NFL or a loaded college football slate. As Tiger, Rory and others have previously pointed out, golf isn’t going to contend with football. 

Our Josh Sens unveiled the 2025 Turkeys of the Year, our annual awards dished out for missteps or other regrettable moments made over the last 11 months. Who or what takes home your pick?

Sens: The fan abuse of Rory at Bethpage, hands down. For a blend of brainlessness and ugliness, that was tough to beat.

Hirsh: I’ll get specific here on Sens’ topic and say it was that emcee who joined in on the “F— You Rory” chants at the first tee. What are we doing?

Schrock: How could it not be everything that went on at Bethpage as the Europeans roared out to a massive lead? If I had to pick a silver medalist, I’d probably go with Phil due to … well, everything. 

Let’s wrap up the holiday weekend with an easy (and cheesy) one. What in the golf world are you thankful for?

Sens: I’ll see your cheese and raise you some schmaltz. But it’s an honest answer: the friends I’ve made through golf on every continent where the game is played, plus quite a few of them right here in my hometown.

Hirsh: That my fiancée, Becca, hit a 5-wood long and high enough to hit and hold the green on Bandon Trails’ par-3 5th hole this weekend on a Trackman simulator! I don’t care if she ever plays golf more than once or twice a year, but that certainly won’t hurt the cause!

Schrock: Extra cheese, anyone? Having a job that allows us to travel, play and cover golf is hard to top. Not a bad way to “work.”

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