Tiger Woods spoke to the media for the first time in months ahead of the Hero World Challenge.
Woods hosts the PGA Tour event in The Bahamas, where 20 of the world’s best players come together weeks before the new season.
In his press conference, Tiger discussed many topics, including his injury recovery, the Tour schedule, and the recent changes to professional golf.
He identified a key difference between the PGA Tour two decades ago and how it is now, attributing it mainly to YouTube.
Tiger Woods explains how professional golf has completely changed recently
Woods commented on the influx of successful young players on the PGA Tour recently, which rarely happened when he turned professional almost 30 years ago.
“There’s a generational shift,” he said at the Hero World Challenge. “The game has gotten younger, stronger, faster, and bigger. It’s fun to see. There are more top players at a younger age than ever before.
“A lot of them are now able to play and get themselves into the top 50, which then allows them to get into this event. Some have gotten in as high as the top 10.
Do you agree with our Hero World Challenge predictions?
Peter Lynch: It’s almost impossible to look past Scottie Scheffler for this one. He’s dominated the event and dominated 2025, so why not keep winning? 🏆️
Charlie Walker: Yes, Scottie Scheffler has dominated this event in years past, but I’m giving the nod to Cameron Young this time around! Young picked up his first PGA Tour win shortly before the Ryder Cup and was one of the standout performers at Bethpage Black. He’s never been higher on confidence, and he’s shown he can compete with the very best in the world when the lights are brightest. ⛳
James Shearman: Scottie Scheffler could easily defend his title, but he has not played in a competitive event since the Ryder Cup in September. J.J. Spaun should be more up to speed after finishing T11 at the World Wide Technology Championship last month. 💰️
Jordan Harris: Scottie Scheffler has never finished worse than second at the Hero World Challenge, and this week does not have the strongest field. So it looks like a seventh win of 2025 for the world number one is on the cards. 🏌️♂️
“The game has gotten younger, it really has. When I first came out on Tour, you had to serve at least four to five years before you had the experience of playing golf courses enough times, then you had to pay your dues of losing a bunch, and then ultimately winning probably in your late 20s.
“That model doesn’t exist anymore. These kids come out of college ready to play or even sometimes skip college, and they’re ready to play even earlier. The age of the game of golf out here at the Tour level has become younger.”
Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa, and Viktor Hovland are three prime examples of top players who emerged in their early to mid-20s.
Is Tiger Woods one of the greatest short game players of all-time?
Tiger Woods thinks YouTube is the reason for younger winners on the PGA Tour
Woods shared an interesting response when asked why there are so many players succeeding on the PGA Tour earlier in their careers nowadays.
The 15-time major champion believes that the introduction of YouTube allows up-and-coming golfers to learn the game faster than in previous generations.
“I think it has a lot to do with YouTube, seeing swings,” Woods explained. “Before, I had VHS tapes. I would tape a weekend round of golf and then watch it, hoping the tracking worked halfway decent, and try and get a swing. Sometimes the swings didn’t even look good; I didn’t even know who that was.
“Seeing so many different swings over and over again, and the instruction level has gotten better, the curve it took to understand how to play the game has gotten faster.
“You didn’t have to necessarily go out there and dig it out of the dirt; now you can watch it on your mobile phone and learn that way. It’s gotten faster and younger. Just like all kids, they’re sponges for information, and they can make changes on the fly.”
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