Tiger Woods not in the field for The Players Championship in his final year of an exemption
Tiger Woods is not in the field for The Players Championship next week at the TPC Sawgrass, the final year of his exemption from winning the 2019 Masters.
The decision was not surprising, especially when Woods said after a TMRW Golf League match earlier this week that it was only the third time he had played since his mother, Kultida, died suddenly on Feb. 4.
Two of those times were at TGL. The other was with President Donald Trump on Feb. 9. He also played in the Seminole Pro-Member on Monday.
"This is the third time I've touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven't really gotten into it,' Woods said Tuesday. 'My heart is not into practicing right now. I have so many other things to do with the tour. Once I start probably feeling a little bit better and start getting into it, I'll start looking at the schedule.'
Woods, a two-time winner at The Players, has not played the PGA Tour's flagship event since 2019. He tied for 30th, and a month later won the Masters for his fifth green jacket and his 15th major championship.
He earned a five-year exemption for The Players with that Masters win, getting an extra year to account for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Players was canceled after one round in 2020, though Woods did not enter because he was feeling stiffness in his back.
There are no special exemptions for The Players. His only way back would be through his performance this year, or if he were to ever play the PGA Tour Champions after turning 50 and winning the Kaulig Companies Championship — formerly Senior Players — at Firestone.
If he chooses to play the Masters, it would be his first tournament since he missed the cut at the British Open last July. Woods is on the list of players, and there is no commitment deadline for him to decide to play at Augusta National.
Woods has never missed the cut at the Masters as a pro, setting a tournament record last year with his 24th cut made. He had 19 appearances at The Players and only failed to make the cut one time in 2011, when he withdrew after a 42 on the front nine with a left leg injury.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
24 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Soto stares down Gore and helps Mets rally past Nationals in extra innings
NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto is starting to feel it. Following a May slump that dropped his batting average to .224, the New York Mets slugger has eight hits in his last four games. And when he homered Tuesday night at Citi Field, he stared down Washington Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore a couple of times while rounding the bases. 'We were saying hi to each other. That's it,' Soto said with the slightest hint of a smile, drawing laughs from reporters. Gore and Soto were traded for each other as part of a 2022 blockbuster that also sent CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III and James Wood from San Diego to Washington. 'We always go back and forth. Nothing bad or anything. And he got me,' said Gore, who leads the major leagues with 114 strikeouts. Because of their link from that trade? 'I don't know. Just some tough at-bats. And he's super competitive, which is why people like him, why people like watching him,' Gore said. 'Threw a bad slider and he hit it out.' Soto also ripped a pivotal RBI double against his original team and threw out a runner at home plate from right field to help New York rally for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings. He has four home runs in the past 10 games to give him 12 during his first season with the Mets since signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent. The four-time All-Star, who helped Washington win the 2019 World Series, has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games and is batting .341 with eight RBIs and a 1.225 OPS during that span. Soto went 3 for 3 with three walks and three runs Sunday in a 13-5 win at Colorado, reaching base six times in a game for the first time in his career. His first time up Tuesday night, though, Soto saw three straight sliders from Gore and struck out looking against the left-hander. In the third inning, the five-time Silver Slugger winner got some revenge. He drove a 2-2 slider 373 feet the other way to left-center for a solo homer that shaved New York's deficit to 3-2 — and he jawed in Gore's direction immediately after connecting. 'Just a great swing,' Soto said. 'Like I said, another mistake. I'm waiting for mistakes. He made a mistake and I put the ball in play.' ___ Freelance writer Jerry Beach contributed. ___ AP MLB:
New York Post
39 minutes ago
- New York Post
Lawnmowers at ‘unplayable' US Open golf course go viral
Lawn lovers, behold the wild scenes playing out at the US Open golf tournament this week. The US Open has long been renowned as arguably the most difficult of the four golf majors, with birdies hard to come by on the course chosen for the major. It's no different at this year's course, the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, where keeping the ball on the fairway will be more important than usual. 6 A line of greenskeepers mowing the rough at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., on Monday. X / @usopengolf US Open organisers are notorious for keeping the rough on the edge of the fairway so tall that it's nearly impossible to find your ball if it lands in the long grass, and even harder to hit it out of there. Footage shared by the US Open this week of the thick rough being tamed by greenkeepers shows just how tricky it will be to play at Oakmont. An army of Oakmont Country Club greenkeepers armed with lawnmowers have been wading through the rough to try and make things slightly easier. Videos circulating on social media show that a ball dropped from knee height into the rough is almost completely lost in the thick stuff. 6 Footage shared by the US Open this week of the thick rough being tamed by greenkeepers shows just how tricky it will be to play at Oakmont. AP 6 An army of Oakmont Country Club greenkeepers armed with lawnmowers have been wading through the rough to try and make things slightly easier. X / @usopengolf Sportswriter Chris Harlan described the scene: 'Oakmont Country Club has a fleet of lawnmowers out today for the US Open.' Golf fans were stunned by the rough grass, as well as the fact the ground staff opted to used push mowers instead of tractor mowers. One person commented: 'I can't think of a more inefficient way to do things than mowing a golf course with push mowers.' Another said: 'There's gotta be a better way in today's world.' Golfer Jhonattan Vegas wrote on X: 'Good news guys, they are cutting the rough but, it's still unplayable. Have fun.' Fox Sports golf expert Paul Gow told he expects it to a golfer's nightmare this week, and the player that keeps their cool the most will come out on top. 'This is the best week of the year, you get to watch golf pros get upset with themselves,' Gow chuckled. 'Oakmont is one of the hardest golf courses in the world. It requires a player to hit so many different shots. 'It's a frustrating golf course because there's a lot of different angles and 175 bunkers around the golf course. You've got to navigate yourself around 'The rough is nice and deep so there's an emphasis on hitting it on the fairway. 6 The rough surrounding a fairway bunker on the 18th hole gets cut during a practice round for the 2025 US Open golf championship at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., Monday, June 9, 2025. AP 'Some of the scores to win the US Open here have been over par. 'It's one of those golf courses the players love to hate because the greens get up ridiculously quick — quicker than Royal Melbourne. 'The greens will be running at 14 and a half to 15 on the stint meter. That will make difficult putting. And they're big, large greens that move the ball around a lot. And there's these little subtle breaks that will really frustrate the players. 'It's one of those places that a player needs to turn up with a really, really good attitude. If they don't, well, the most will pack their bags on Friday afternoon and go home.' Fresh off his PGA Championship win, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is chasing his fourth major title and first US Open victory. 6 A general view of the third hole during a practice round prior to the 125th U.S. OPEN at Oakmont Country Club on June 10, 2025 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. Getty Images Scheffler is in a stellar patch of form having won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, the PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament in the past month. 'You can't go past Scheffler,' Gow said. 'I like Jon Rahm, he definitely is trending towards a better week. He played well at the PGA Championships at Quail Hollow. He fell over the last couple of holes, but he drove the ball really well. 'But you can't go away from Scottie Scheffler, it's just ridiculous how good he's playing, he's definitely the in-form player.' Australia's Marc Leishman will play his first major since 2022, while Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Cameron Davis and Jason Day are the other Aussies playing this week. It will be Scott's 96th consecutive appearance at a major. 6 US Open organisers are notorious for keeping the rough on the edge of the fairway so tall that it's nearly impossible to find your ball if it lands in the long grass, and even harder to hit it out of there. X / @usopengolf Players have voiced their concerns for just how difficult it will be to play in the conditions at Oakmont this week. Rory McIlroy, chasing his second major of the year after his Masters triumph, struggled playing the course during a practice round last week. 'Last Monday felt impossible,' McIlroy said. 'I birdied the last two holes for 81. It felt pretty good, it didn't feel like I played that badly. It's much more benign right now than it was that Monday. They had the pins in dicey locations and greens were running at 15.5 (on the stimpmeter measuring green speed). 'It was nearly impossible. This morning it was a little softer. The pins aren't going to be on 3 or 4 per cent slopes all the time. 'If you put it in the fairway, it's certainly playable. But then you just have to think about leaving your ball below the hole and just trying to make as many pars as you can. You get yourself in the way of a few birdies, that's a bonus. 'I'm glad we have spotters out there because last Monday you hit a ball off the fairway and you were looking for a good couple of minutes just to find it. It's very penal if you miss. Sometimes it's penal if you don't miss. 'The person with the most patience and the best attitude this week is the one that's going to win.'
Fox Sports
42 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Soto stares down Gore and helps Mets rally past Nationals in extra innings
Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto is starting to feel it. Following a May slump that dropped his batting average to .224, the New York Mets slugger has eight hits in his last four games. And when he homered Tuesday night at Citi Field, he stared down Washington Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore a couple of times while rounding the bases. 'We were saying hi to each other. That's it,' Soto said with the slightest hint of a smile, drawing laughs from reporters. Gore and Soto were traded for each other as part of a 2022 blockbuster that also sent CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III and James Wood from San Diego to Washington. 'We always go back and forth. Nothing bad or anything. And he got me,' said Gore, who leads the major leagues with 114 strikeouts. Because of their link from that trade? 'I don't know. Just some tough at-bats. And he's super competitive, which is why people like him, why people like watching him,' Gore said. 'Threw a bad slider and he hit it out.' Soto also ripped a pivotal RBI double against his original team and threw out a runner at home plate from right field to help New York rally for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings. He has four home runs in the past 10 games to give him 12 during his first season with the Mets since signing a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent. The four-time All-Star, who helped Washington win the 2019 World Series, has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games and is batting .341 with eight RBIs and a 1.225 OPS during that span. Soto went 3 for 3 with three walks and three runs Sunday in a 13-5 win at Colorado, reaching base six times in a game for the first time in his career. His first time up Tuesday night, though, Soto saw three straight sliders from Gore and struck out looking against the left-hander. In the third inning, the five-time Silver Slugger winner got some revenge. He drove a 2-2 slider 373 feet the other way to left-center for a solo homer that shaved New York's deficit to 3-2 — and he jawed in Gore's direction immediately after connecting. 'Just a great swing," Soto said. "Like I said, another mistake. I'm waiting for mistakes. He made a mistake and I put the ball in play.' ___ Freelance writer Jerry Beach contributed. ___ AP MLB: recommended
