Tiger not in the field for next week’s Valspar Championship

It appears increasingly likely that Tiger Woods’ next appearance will be at the Masters.

Woods did not sign up for next week’s Valspar Championship by the 5 p.m. ET deadline Friday.

The Valspar – where Woods tied for second in his only appearance there, in 2018 – represented Woods’ last realistic chance to play a tuneup event ahead of the year’s first major. The other two remaining events on the Tour schedule are the Houston Open and Valero Texas Open. Woods has never played the former and played the latter once, after turning pro in 1996.

That means Woods will likely enter the Masters having played just one full competitive round in 2024 – and five overall in the last calendar year – after he withdrew midway through the second round of the Genesis Invitational because of illness. At that point, he appeared on his way to missing the cut and had also complained of back spasms.

Earlier this month, Woods competed for the first time in the one-day Seminole Pro-Member alongside partner Seth Waugh, the chief executive of the PGA of America.

This year marks the five-year anniversary of Woods’ emotional victory at Augusta National. He withdrew from last year’s event because of pain in his surgically repaired right leg. A few weeks later, he underwent another procedure to fuse his ankle.

Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Brian Harman and Jordan Spieth headline the field next week at Innisbrook.