‘I think the Masters is going to be my next event’ - McIlroy unlikely to play again before Augusta

Masters champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after winning the Masters in a sudden death playoff on the No. 18 green at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 13, 2025.

Rory McIlroy likely won’t play again before the Masters after admitting he felt no ill effects from his back injury as his Boston Common Golf team lost to Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links in the TGL Playoffs in Florida last night

The Masters champion will reveal his Champions Dinner menu in a media teleconference later today as he counts down to his title defence at Augusta National from April 9-12.

He said after finishing 46th at The Players on Sunday that he had yet to decide whether to play an event before the Masters, which starts in three weeks.

But he appears to have ruled that out now after revealing he felt no fatigue as he teamed up with Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott but lost 9-5 to Jupiter’s Akshay Bhatia, Tom Kim and Max Homa at the SoFi Centre in Palm Beach Gardens.

“I felt fine,” McIlroy said of his energy levels after a tough week at TPC Sawgrass, where he teed it up without playing a practice round after pulling out with a back injury at the Arnold Palmer Invitational nine days ago.

“I was a little worried, I would say, obviously was on pain killers, anti-inflammatories all of last week, so just sort of coming off those, just how I would feel on Monday.

“But felt fine yesterday. Feel fine today. So that wasn't an issue, thankfully.”

As for playing the Texas Children's Houston Open next week or the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio the week before the Masters, McIlroy sounded confident he would not have to add an extra event.

“I think the Masters is going to be my next event, and I've got a press conference there on Zoom at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow to reveal the menu, so…” he added.

As for Woods, who replied “No” when asked at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles if a Masters return was off the table, the 15-time Major winner did not sound overly optimistic about his chances of playing at Augusta National this year.

“I said I've been working on it,” Woods said after cheering on his team last night. “Sometimes I have good days, sometimes I have bad days.

“Disc replacement is not a lot of fun. So Will Zalatoris went through it; he had two levels done, and it takes time.

“So as I said, I've had a lot of procedures prior to that, so the body doesn't quite heal like it was when I was 24. Doesn't quite bounce back.

“So I have good days when I can pretty much do anything, and other days where it's hard to just to move around.”

Jupiter Links will play Los Angeles Golf Club, who were 6-4 winners over Atlanta Drive GC, in the TGL decider on March 25, but it appears unlikely that Woods will tee it up.

“Well, I think that I have been trying to play each and every one of these matches,” said Woods (50), who hasn’t played an official event since The Open at Royal Troon in 2024.

“I've been trying to come back. But it just hasn't worked out that way. I've had a bad run of injuries last year.

“I think it's been a year and a few days since I blew out my Achilles. And so then I've had two back operations. So it's been a little rough go.

“But the guys here, this team, we have so much fun, I really don't want to screw up the lineup, I just want these guys to keep playing.”