Ryan Lavner suggests Tiger Woods’ chances of playing on the PGA TOUR Champions have changed recently

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Tiger Woods is approaching the grand old age of 50 and with that, he will be eligible to take part in the PGA TOUR Champions should he wish.

Woods is currently out injured and as has become the norm with him in recent years, he faces yet another mammoth fight to even get back playing.

Of course, the 54-hole format of the senior tour and the benefits of buggy use mean that Woods might well get himself back to a point where he feels he can compete.

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Indeed, there has been an excitement for Woods playing on the senior tour, with many expecting him to at least play in the big tournaments at some point.

However, according to golf analyst Ryan Lavner, Woods playing on the TOUR Champions might not be as straightforward as some think.

Ryan Lavner says why Tiger Woods might not play on the PGA TOUR Champions

For the average golf fan and the senior tour in general, seeing Tiger play is going to be big news.

Not only does it draw eyeballs to the product, but any golf fan will admit their excitement levels jump whenever Tiger is in action.

However, speaking on the latest episode of the Rex and Lav podcast, Ryan Lavner suggested that Woods may not end up playing at all.

“I remain very sceptical that we are going to see it. I think a couple of years ago you could have made the argument that he would play a handful of them. He certainly talked optimistically about doing so. He liked the idea of being with the players of that ilk, of that vintage. Players who he grew up playing with like Fred Couples or Mark O’Meara,” Lavner commented.

“However, I think the last couple of years have dimmed that optimism a little bit. It hasn’t just been the back issues, which were numerous anyway, including the fused back. Then it was the ankle issue. Then it became the Achilles issue which knocked him out the entire 2025 and now we have the back issue.

“If you are Tiger Woods. Are you really going to spend what clearly appears to be a finite number of golf swings and golf shots left in his body. Are you going to burn them on the over 50’s set or are you going to try and catch lightning in a bottle at a major championship and save that for The Masters or The Open Championship? I think it’s the latter.”

Continuing his point further alongside his broadcasting partner Rex Hoggard, Lavner then picked the tournaments he would expect Woods to play if he does opt for some senior action.

“I think the US Senior Open is maybe the one senior event I could foresee him playing in 2026. Maybe if his body is not quite as close to 100% as he can get it, maybe he has to push it back to 2027,” he continued.

“We will see then where his body is, but it’s really hard to foresee him playing three to five regular PGA Tour Champions events. I think five or so years ago, before these most recent issues cropped up, then yeah. I think you could maybe have cobbled together a schedule, where he is playing about once a month. But it’s hard to see it right now, as we are about a month and a half away from Tiger Woods turning 50.”

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What Rex Hoggard said in response to Ryan Lavner’s Tiger Woods prediction

This discussion from Lavner and Hoggard was an interesting one and they are among the first people to really raise questions on Woods’ plans and chances.

Indeed, in response to Lavner, Hoggard then suggested with his counter-point that Woods is, in fact, always working at some sort of comeback.

“That is a really good point. I will counter it a little bit and say that he is already preparing one way or another. It’s not as though he stops working. If he has an event on the horizon. If he is looking at the PGA Tour, majors or the PGA Tour Champions, he is going to continue to work. That’s the way he is wired,” Hoggard commented.

“Talking to people inside his camp, he still goes to the gym and is as regimented as he ever has been.
To your point, I don’t see him wandering out to play a 54 hole senior tour event, just to spend time with his buddies and that has kind of always been the argument, that he misses being around them. Maybe on some level he does, but I don’t see him doing that, especially if he is not going to be competitive

“I don’t think it’s a given that he would just be competitive because we see it every year. When a PGA Tour player turns 50 the expectation is that he will go out and dominate, but that is not really the case.
It is not a linear equation here, you don’t go straight from the PGA Tour and have that expectation.

“I will say, one caveat on that, is that I think we can make the assumption that winning the US Senior Open would have a certain intrigue for him because of his USGA records. He loves the idea that he has the three US Open junior titles, the three US Open amateur title, the US Open title and if he can add a Senior Open title I think that would intrigue. But can his body cooperate? As of right now it cannot and it hasn’t in a long time.”

Quite whether we will see Tiger at all in 2026, is a question in itself.

But if we do, then it would be of definite intrigue to see him on the TOUR Champions to pit his wits against some of the greats of the game.