Tiger Woods’ absence from Players Championship further fuels doubt

• Former world No 1 unlikely to play before Masters
• Woods has played just eight events in three years

Tiger Woods's latest comeback has been plunged into doubt after it emerged the 48-year-old will not, as had been expected, feature in next week's Players Championship. Woods, who had set a 2024 goal of competing once a month, is now unlikely to be seen until the Masters in April.

Woods's appearance at the Hero World Challenge in November was his eighth since being involved in a car accident in early 2021 and his first since last year's Masters. He finished 18th in a 20-man field with a level-par aggregate. Once a month seems reasonable," he said of his playing prospects for this year. His body has been seriously affected by multiple leg and back surgeries.