The 2019 White House ceremony was not the last time Donald Trump spoke publicly on behalf of Tiger Woods. On March 27, two weeks before the Masters, Trump did it again, making a statement that ended months of speculation.

“He’ll be there, but he won’t be playing in it,” Trump said on Fox News’ The Five, talking about the Masters 2026.

Trump was the one to share this news because of a friendship with Woods that goes back more than twenty years. They first met in the early 2000s at Trump-owned golf courses, and by the time Trump became president, they were playing golf together often. They played in December 2016, again in November 2017, and in February 2019, just weeks before Augusta, they played a round with Jack Nicklaus at Trump’s Jupiter club.

After Woods won the Masters in April, Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on May 6, 2019. They played golf together again on February 9, 2025, at Trump’s West Palm Beach club. Even the personal connection between the two has grown.

Woods confirmed his relationship with Vanessa Trump, Donald Jr.’s ex-wife. Both live in Palm Beach, and their children attend the same school. Vanessa attended TGL events throughout the season. At the finale on March 24, she was photographed with Woods before he teed off. Though Woods has not confirmed or denied his Masters status, Trump is not passing along rumors. The families are now closely linked, beyond just public appearances.

Woods will be at Augusta. His professional ties to this Masters are clear. TGR Design, his firm, designed The Loop at The Patch, a new nine-hole short course at Augusta Municipal Golf Course. It opens to the public on April 15, six days after the Masters begins. His TGR Foundation is building a TGR Learning Lab in Augusta, set to open in 2028. And of course, he will be at the Champions dinner.

At the Genesis Invitational in February, he told reporters Augusta was not off the table. That kept speculation alive for weeks. But the harder question is what kept him from competing.

Woods addressed this at the TGL presser, where he told reporters that disc replacement surgery yielded inconsistent results, with good days when movement felt normal and bad ones when basic mobility remained a challenge. His body no longer heals at the same rate it once did. The TGL Finals showed what Woods can and cannot do. He played in a simulator at the SoFi Center. There were no elevation changes, no long walks, and no four-round test. Augusta National, with its terrain and four rounds on foot, is a different challenge.

Woods had surgery to replace a lumbar disc in October 2025. This was his seventh back surgery since 2014. Seven months earlier, he repaired a ruptured left Achilles tendon. He has not played a PGA Tour event since the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Augusta has seen this kind of transition before, though the circumstances here are distinct.

Tiger Woods stepping back at Augusta follows a familiar path, with one key difference

Arnold Palmer played his last Masters at Augusta in 2004, after reaching his personal goal of 50 straight appearances and letting everyone know ahead of time that he would stop there. Jack Nicklaus did the same in 2005, finishing with scores of 77 and 76, and later saying he would rather not keep playing if he couldn’t compete properly. Both men decided for themselves when and how to step away.

This time, the process was different. Confirmation came through a televised interview, then spread quickly on social media. Unlike Palmer and Nicklaus, Woods did not make a formal announcement or address the situation directly. The information was released by others, not by Woods himself, and circulated before any official response could be given.

The 2026 Masters begins April 9.