One week ago, Colt Knost would have told you Tiger Woods had no business teeing it up at Augusta, coming off a ruptured Achilles and a seventh back surgery in 2025. Then he watched him move around Riviera Country Club. And now his opinion is suggesting otherwise.

“Just seeing him move around out there, he just looks good right now,” Golf Channel analyst Colt Knost said on SiriusXM. “Walking is the biggest issue for him, and he’s going up and down the steps at Riviera. I think there’s a better chance he plays than he doesn’t. I’m starting to think we’re going to see him tee it up.”

What gives his optimism real weight is the contrast between where the 50-year-old stands now and where he was just a few months ago. In December 2025, at the Hero World Challenge press conference, Woods had only just been cleared to chip and putt, a full six weeks after his October back surgery. “Healing from a disc replacement takes time,” he said then. At that point, hitting full shots was not even on the table.

By February 17, at his Genesis Invitational press conference, that had changed. Woods confirmed he is back to hitting full shots. When asked directly if the Masters, running April 9 to 12 at Augusta National, was off the table, he smiled and denied, giving everyone hope of his comeback.

That one-word reply carried more weight than any full sentence could. But it looks like not everyone shares Knost’s observation.

Rich Beem pushed back, noting that almost every shot at Augusta National is played from an uneven lie, and that kind of muscle memory cannot be built on a driving range alone. Competitive rounds with a scorecard are required, and Woods has not played a tournament since the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Trey Wingo and Justin Ray echoed that concern, with Wingo pointing specifically to Augusta’s elevation and gradient as factors that are hard to appreciate from the outside. Beem acknowledged that the 15-time major champion looked physically strong at Riviera but was clear that appearance and tournament readiness are two different things. 72 holes on Augusta’s terrain will expose any weakness, and it is his legs, not his ball-striking, that remain the real question heading into April.

For Woods, returning to the Masters is not the only decision looming!

Beyond Augusta, another big call looms for Tiger Woods

Augusta is not the only thing Tiger Woods needs to figure out before April, as the PGA of America wants an answer from him on the Ryder Cup captaincy at Adare Manor, Ireland, in 2027, and they want it soon. It is not being framed as a take-it-or-leave-it situation, but a soft deadline before the Masters has been placed on the table. What makes it more significant is that Woods is not one name on a list. He is the only name.

His own words reveal why the decision is not straightforward.

“I’m trying to figure out if I can do Team USA and everyone involved in the Ryder Cup justice,” Woods said.

On top of his physical recovery, he is also chairing the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee, which is working through one of the biggest structural reforms the Tour has seen in years. That is a serious time commitment running parallel to everything else he is managing.

Woods has been down this road before. When the PGA approached him about captaining the 2025 Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black, he said no, pointing to his injury and Tour duties. Then it was Keegan Bradley whom they went with, but now they want him.

For the 84x PGA Tour champion, there are two open questions, one timeline, and a body still finding its way back. Now, it will be interesting to watch how Tiger Woods handles both, which will define what the next chapter actually looks like.