The Players: Tiger Woods missing from 2025 field and delays PGA Tour comeback at TPC Sawgrass

The PGA Tour has confirmed that Tiger Woods won’t return to action at The Players after the former world No 1 was not named in the final field for next week’s event at TPC Sawgrass.The 49-year-old has missed each of the last four editions due to injury, with Woods not featuring in an official event since missing the cut The Open last July and playing a limited schedule in recent seasons.Woods was due to make his latest comeback at The Genesis Invitational last month, only to withdraw from the event after the death of his mother Kultida the previous week left him “just not ready” to compete.The two-time Players champion revealed during his TGL appearance on Tuesday that his “heart is not really into practising right now”, as her juggles mourning his mother’s passing with his role on the PGA Tour board and discussions to reunify the men’s game.Woods had set himself the goal of playing more in 2025 and was expected to tee it up on the PGA Tour ahead of The Masters, live from April 10-13 on Sky Sports, but his next start will not be at The Players and he will miss the event for a fifth consecutive year.The 15-time major champion said on Tuesday he would ‘start looking at the schedule’ when ‘feeling a little bit better’, with Woods yet to explain his reason for not entering The Players or give any clear indication on when he will return to the PGA Tour.Woods previously played every edition of The Players from his debut in 1997 to 2007, claiming a one-shot win in 2001, then featured each year from 2009 to his two-shot victory in 2013. He has only made three starts since, with the 2025 edition the last of his five-year exemption for his victory at The Masters in 2019.Scottie Scheffler returns as two-time defending champion and looking to become the first player to win The Players three times since Jack Nicklaus, which would see him become the first PGA Tour player in 14 years to win the same event three years running.Scheffler is one of eight former Players champions in the field, with 2019 champion Rory McIlroy looking to build on his winning start to the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Justin Rose also in action.Justin Rose and Matt Kuchar will each make their 20th career appearance at The Players, while both Rose and Tommy Fleetwood will be among the strong contingent looking to become the first English winner in the tournament’s history.Forty-eight of the world’s top 50 feature in the 144-man field, where five PGA Tour winners are among 24 debutants involved. One of those making their debut is England’s Laurie Canter, who will be the first former LIV Golf player to feature at The Players after breaking into the world’s top 50.