Tiger Woods to miss Players Championship next week

MIAMI: Tiger Woods won't compete in next week's Players Championship, making it look likely the 15-time major champion's next event will be the Masters at Augusta National in April. 

The PGA Tour announced the field for their flagship event at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Friday, and Woods -- who won the Players in 2001 and 2013 -- was not on the list.

Woods, still limited by the severe lower right leg injuries he suffered in a February 2021 car accident, last played at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February.

He made the cut and finished tied for 45th, acknowledging on Sunday that it "certainly was a little bit more difficult than I probably let on."

Woods had offered no clues to his future schedule at Riviera, apart from saying he hoped to compete in all four majors, and perhaps "a couple" of other events.

"Like I told you guys last year, I'm not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more," Woods said. "That's it, that's all my body will allow me to do. My back the way it is, all the surgeries I had on my back, my leg the way it is, I just can't. That's just going to be my future."

Riviera marked Woods's first tour level event since he missed the cut at the Open Championship in July. He had skipped the US Open to be ready for St. Andrews.

He had made a stunning return to competition at the Masters last year to finish tied for 47th, but he withdrew from the PGA Championship after the third round.