Tiger Woods not in The Players Championship field in final year of 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.

“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 Championship, 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 Championship with that Masters win, getting an extra year to account for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The event 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 Championship. 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 Championship 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.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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