USGA Official Expects Tiger Woods At 2028 US Senior Open

Tiger Woods has not played a professional stroke-play event since the 2024 Open Championship, and the USGA's chief championships officer believes his eventual comeback could be built around a tilt at the 2028 US Senior Open.

John Bodenhamer told local outlet WISH-TV News he expects Woods to appear at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana for that edition of the championship, pointing to the historical weight of the achievement rather than any confirmed plan from Woods himself.

"Tiger understands his legacy," Bodenhamer said. "It's important to Tiger."

The 2026 US Senior Open at Oak Tree National next June is considered too soon given the uncertainty over Woods' recovery and his wider Major schedule, according to Golf Monthly.

Bodenhamer laid out the numbers behind the theory. "Bob Jones won nine USGA national championships. Tiger Woods has won nine, and to win that tenth, if he could do it at the US Senior Open, he understands what that means," he said.

A tenth USGA national title would move Woods clear of Bobby Jones outright. Winning the Senior Open would also place him alongside Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, the only two players to have won the US Amateur, the US Open and the US Senior Open.

"There's only been two people in the history of our game that have won the US Amateur, the US Open, and the US Senior Open - Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer," Bodenhamer said.

Woods has already won the US Junior Amateur, the US Amateur and the US Open, so a Senior Open title would make him the only golfer to hold all four.

Away from that long-range projection, the picture of Woods' actual movements remains sparse. He has not competed professionally since the 2024 Open and featured in just one TGL match in 2026, according to Yahoo Sports.

His absence traces back to a crash in March, when his vehicle rolled near his home on Jupiter Island, Florida. He subsequently underwent a period of inpatient treatment and entered a no-contest plea to a reckless driving charge, a decision that cost him his driving licence for five years.

Since then he has made a handful of low-key public appearances: speaking briefly in June when the PGA Tour announced its revamped schedule, attending a Stanford football game in September, showing up at the Nexus Cup event he hosts in New Jersey, and most recently hitting balls at the TGR Jr. Invitational on the Monterey Peninsula in October.

He has been seen in range-clinic settings but has not yet spoken publicly about either the crash or his plans for a competitive return, Yahoo Sports reported.

Two nearer-term events are being floated as more realistic staging posts. Woods traditionally gives a pre-tournament press conference at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas each December, and the field still has three unfilled places among its twenty slots. Kevin Kisner is among those who expect Woods to play there, per Yahoo Sports.

The PNC Championship later that month is also in the frame, an event in which Woods has regularly partnered his son Charlie despite fluctuating fitness. With Charlie a senior in high school and committed to Florida State, this December would mark their last outing together at the scramble event before he moves on.

For now, Woods' next tournament start remains unconfirmed, with the Hero World Challenge presser likely to offer the clearest public word yet on his comeback timeline.