For the fourth time in five years, Tiger Woods will not be playing in the U.S. Open. The three-time national champion is still unable to tee it up at Oakmont Country Club this week as he is rehabilitating after tearing his Achilles earlier this year just as he was attempting to get back on the coures to play in the 2025 PGA Tour season.
The last time we saw Woods playing golf was in the TGL with his Jupiter Links Golf Club squad, but after appearing in all four major championships a year ago, Woods’ latest injury will keep him out this season. Woods missed the cut at Pinehurst No. 2 last year, which was the first time he’d played in a U.S. Open since 2020 (where he also missed the cut). The physical demands of the U.S. Open, coupled with the growing list of Woods’ injuries and surgeries, has made it difficult for him to compete in golf’s toughest test.
Even as he’s made various comebacks to find success on the PGA Tour — most notably adding his 15th major win at the Masters — Woods hasn’t been able to put together a top 10 finish at the U.S. Open since all the way back in 2010.
For years, Woods’ presence was a necessity for a golf event to draw significant interest from around the sports world, but as his absences have become more commonplace, we’ve seen new stars step into the spotlight.
While there is no one player that can replace Tiger, golf has never had this kind of depth of talent at the top of the sport, and they’ve been able to fill that void in the aggregate.
Scottie Scheffler is now the game’s dominant presence, winning tournaments at a rate we haven’t seen since prime Tiger. Rory McIlroy is the beloved figure that draws huge crowds and has become the biggest voice in the sport. Bryson DeChambeau brings the brash, demonstrative personality to the game, riling up the crowd with fist pumps and histrionics.
With those three and a long list of other talented young stars, Woods’ presence is no longer a necessity to make a big event feel that way, but rather a bonus to see the greatest of all time tee it up. While that won’t happen this week or likely this year, golf fans will be thrilled to watch Woods try to climb that mountain again in 2026 and test himself against those new stars once more.