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Donald Trump: Tiger Woods ‘won’t be playing’ in Masters

By Thomson Reuters Mar 27, 2026 | 11:45 AM

U.S. President Donald Trump delivered some breaking news in the golf world, claiming Tiger Woods will not play in the Masters next month.

“I ​love Tiger but he won’t be there,” ‌Trump said during a phone interview Thursday with Fox News. “He will be there, but he won’t be playing in it.”

Woods, 50, has remained mum about his plans for the April 9-12 tournament ‌at ​Augusta National due to ongoing ⁠health concerns. The five-time ⁠Masters champion has not played in an official event since July of 2024.

Earlier this week, there were renewed hopes that Woods might chase his sixth green ​jacket when he made his TGL season debut for Jupiter Links in Tuesday’s finals.

Woods, who ruptured his ⁠left Achilles tendon last spring ⁠and underwent lumbar disk replacement surgery in ​October, was asked about his playing status for the Masters ​at a TGL match on March 17.

“I’ve been ‌working on it,” he said. “Sometimes I have good days, sometimes I have bad days. Disk replacement is not a lot of fun.

.”.. So as I said, I’ve ⁠had a lot of procedures prior to that, so the body doesn’t quite heal like it was when I was ⁠24. Doesn’t ‌quite bounce back. So I have good ⁠days when I can pretty much ​do anything, ‌and other days where it’s hard ​to just ⁠to move around.”

Woods is an 82-time winner on the PGA Tour, tied for the all-time lead with Sam Snead. The World Golf Hall of Famer won his 15th and most recent grand slam title at the 2019 ​Masters.

–Field Level Media