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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy echoed the sentiments of golfers and golf fans everywhere Wednesday morning at TPC Sawgrass. Speaking with the media ahead of the 2025 Players Championship, the 2019 winner of the tournament winner responded to news that his friend and business partner, Tiger Woods, underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon that will keep the 49-year-old out of action indefinitely.
“It sucks,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, he doesn’t have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body. Obviously he was trying to ramp up to get ready for Augusta [National], and Achilles surgeries obviously aren’t fun. Hoping he’s in good spirits and hoping he’s doing OK. We obviously won’t see him play golf this year, and hopefully we see him maybe play in 2026.”
While Woods has yet to confirm that he will be a no-go for the 2025 Masters next month, given the severity of the injury and recovery timeline from surgery, all signs point to the 15-time major champion being sidelined for at least 4-6 months. When he will be able to come back is anyone’s guess, and whether he returns at all to competitive golf at all remains up in the air.
Still, McIlroy knows he will give it an effort.
“He’ll try,” said McIlroy about Woods playing again. “I know he’ll try. But that’s a question for him, not for me. I obviously don’t know what’s in his head. But judging by prior behavior, he’ll definitely try.”
Tiger Woods undergoes surgery on ruptured Achilles tendon one month before 2025 Masters
Woods starred alongside McIlroy in their simulator golf league, TGL, this season. While both players’ teams — respectively Jupiter Links Golf Club and Boston Common Golf — are not part of the postseason conversation, they competed regularly with Woods having played just last week in the final regular season match.
Tiger has not played on the PGA Tour since the 2024 Open and admitted that he had barely touched a club since the death of his mother in early February. Woods withdrew from the tournament he hosts, the Genesis Invitational, three days after committing to the field amid her passing.
Not having the Genesis Invitational in his pocket, Woods was going to arrive at Augusta National without having played a single professional round during a season for the first time since 2022.
“He said he’d only touched a club three times or something, so I wouldn’t say he’d have been necessarily close,” McIlroy said. “But he was obviously trying to get closer by ramping up and training and practicing and doing whatever he was doing. Yeah, I’d say he was trying to catch up on some lost time there.”
