Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods said he only started chipping and putting last week and doesn't know when he might return to competitive golf.
Woods, speaking to reporters Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, said he's not far along in his recovery from surgery to replace a disk in his lower back that had caused pain and mobility issues.
Woods had his seventh back procedure in New York on Oct. 10.
"It's been slow," Woods said. "Not able to do much on a disk replacement to let it set; can't really do much. Now, we got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, started strengthening and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven't been able to do, just letting the disk kind of set."
Woods isn't playing in this week's tournament, which he hosts and which benefits his TGR Foundation. He also won't compete with his son, Charlie, in the upcoming PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, from Dec. 18-21.
He also will miss the start of the TGL indoor golf season, which tees off Dec. 28.
"Unfortunately, I've been through this rehab process before," Woods said. "It's just step by step. Once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I'm going to play and how much I'll play."
Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, will be eligible to compete next season on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, in which he would be allowed to use a cart.
When Woods was asked if he plans to play in any senior tournaments in 2026, he joked that he would probably compete in 25 events on both tours.
"I think that should cover most of the year, right?" Woods said. "No, I'm just looking forward to just [getting] back to playing again. Let me do that, and then I'll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be. I'm a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level."
Woods missed the entire 2025 tour season after he ruptured his left Achilles tendon while ramping up training in March.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner had been scheduled to compete in the Genesis Invitational, but withdrew, saying he wasn't ready to play after the death of his mother, Kultida, on Feb. 4.
Woods last competed in a PGA Tour event when he missed the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland in July 2024. He hasn't played four rounds in an official tournament since finishing 60th in the 2024 Masters.
"I'd like to come back to just playing golf again," Woods said. "I haven't played golf in a long time. It's been a tough year. I've had a lot of things happen on and off the golf course that's been tough. And so my passion [is] to just play, I haven't done that in a long time."
Off the course, Woods remains busy as chairman of the PGA Tour's Future Competition Committee, which is exploring ways to make the tour's product better, as it continues to battle LIV Golf for attention.
PGA Tour golfer Harris English suggested at last month's RSM Classic that the 2027 tour schedule might not start until after the Super Bowl is played, and it might include fewer events in future seasons. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, a former NFL executive, has also hinted that dramatic changes might be coming in recent public comments.
"We're trying to give the fans the best product we possibly can, and if we're able to give the fans the best product we can, I think we can make the players who have equity in the tour, we can give them more of that," said Woods, who added the tour was working to implement changes in 2027. "So, the financial windfall could be fantastic for everyone who's involved."