A full-blown Tiger Woods Masters circus is not what we want to see in 2026

Mar 24, 2026 - 11:45

Tiger Woods is going to say he can win the Masters again this year, isn’t he?

Long goes the adage that Tiger only plays in a tournament if he truly believes he can win it.

Tiger Woods playing at the Masters — Tiger Woods looks set to play at the 2026 Masters

He is set to feature in the TGL Finals this week, making his competitive comeback following lumbar disk replacement surgery in October 2025 and an Achilles tendon operation a few months prior to that.

His inclusion just weeks out from the 2026 Masters teeing off has obviously sparked social media chatter that the five-time champion will be teeing it up again at Augusta.

Talk in the golfing world will now be dominated by this one topic leading up the 90th edition of the Masters.

Woods has not played a tournament since the 2024 Open, where he shot an opening round 79 and missed the cut.

But the Masters legend now looks set to use his special past winners invite to make the field at the first major of the year in just a few week’s time.

The issue is that Tiger is not the same as the other legendary past winners…

Fred Couples will no doubt treat us to his obligatory chip-in on the third hole and we may well see Vijay Singh card an opening 72 to sit inside the top 20 at the end of the first day’s play.

Jose Maria Olazabal and Mike Weir will be out early, passing on their Augusta knowledge to some of the lesser-known players in the field.

Zach Johnson, Charl Schwartzel and Danny Willett will attend Rory McIlroy’s Champions Dinner on the Tuesday of tournament week.

We’ll then see a few more glimpses of those former champions throughout the rest of the event if they make a long birdie putt.

Tiger woods 2019 masters — Woods is one of golf’s greats and won the Masters in 2019

That’s how it should be – give the legends their minute before focusing on the action at the top of the leaderboard.

Phil Mickelson – another bonafide icon at Augusta – was barely seen on the broadcast last year as he missed the cut.

Woods is different, though.

Such is the magnitude of Tiger’s enduring appeal that his galleries will be massive.

He can’t – and shouldn’t – be put out early in a lesser group or hidden somewhere among the pack.

He’ll need top billing.

He’ll likely be paired with close friends Rory McIlroy or Justin Thomas or even with world number one Scottie Scheffler in what would be the most marquee group of all.

We’ll see every shot he hits.

But, in 2026, and after everything he’s been through, is that really what we want to see?

Do we really want to see every shot of an opening round 78 and have that screen time take away from the other batch of Masters superstars that will be competing for the title.

And that’s not meant with disrespect, far from it.

Tiger’s last two Masters appearances made for tough viewing.

Woods struggled to walk at times while playing at The Masters in 2023

Woods was seen limping heavily in 2023, struggling to walk up the hilly terrain of Augusta National in cold, wet conditions.

Yes, he produced some highlight moments to make the cut for a record-tying 23rd consecutive Masters but was forced to withdraw due to injury on Sunday as the week took its toll.

He made the cut again a year later to take that record outright but then struggled to an 82 on Saturday and a final round 77 to end 16-over-par, dead last of the players who made the weekend.

Should he play this year, he’ll be doing so following yet more back operations and a ruptured Achilles last March, all at the age of 50 and without a competitive round in months.

He’ll hit some brilliant shots again. He’ll draw huge cheers from the patrons again when he birdies the second hole. And he’ll be lauded up the hill on 18 again.

But if his fitness issues then flare up again and his body gives up, what then?

Seeing a sporting hero – as he is to so many around the world – struggle to walk is not what the first major of the year should be about.