(Photo credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images)

Seven weeks removed from his seventh back surgery is not enough distance for Tiger Woods to provide an accurate measurement of his current physical recovery, or a timeline for his return to golf.

Woods said on Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge he has the green light to work around the greens in a modest sign of progress.

'I'm probably going to play probably 25 events on both tours,' Woods said with a layer of sarcasm when asked if rumors he was considering the PGA Tour Champions were accurate.

'I think that should cover most of the year, right? I'm just looking forward to, let me get back to playing again. Then I can figure out what the schedule is going to be. I'm a ways away from that part of it. That type of decision, that type of commitment level.'

Woods is in the Bahamas this week as the host of the annual event. He shuffles to the end of what he described as a 'tough year' and his 50th birthday on Dec. 30 not knowing fully when or if he'll get back on the course competitively. Woods last played in a PGA Tour event in July 2024 at the Open Championship.

'Unfortunately, I've been through this rehab process before. It's just step-by-step,' Woods said. 'Once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I'll play and how much I'll play.

'I just got cleared last week to chip and putt. It's been (seven) weeks (since surgery) last Friday. It's been slow. Can't really do much on a disk replacement. You've just got to let it set.'

Woods, who also had surgery on his Achilles in March, said he has the OK to work in rotational core exercises and start 'cranking it up a little bit' in the gym.

He made the decision that he and his son, Charlie Woods, will not enter the PNC Championship. The Dec. 18-21 event was a staple on the Woods family calendar. But Tiger Woods said he won't be on the course at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando this year because he would be limited to shots on and around the green.

Peers are pulling for Tiger Woods to return in any capacity. In August, Ernie Els invited him to 'beat us again' on the PGA Tour Champions.

'I've said, please come play. And I think it can only be beneficial to him. He will get himself in golf shape,' Els told the Palm Beach Post. 'You can ride a cart without any shame, and if there was one guy that should be able to drive a cart, it's him.'

Woods said his level of interest in golf and love for the game hasn't been hindered during the latest rehab.

'I'd like to come back to just playing golf again. I haven't played golf in a long time. It's been a tough year. I've had a lot of things happen on and off the golf course that's been tough,' he said. 'And so my passion to just play, I haven't done that in a long time. Just play. So I've had to sit on the sidelines for a number of months, and most of this year and quite frankly end of last year.'

Woods said he doesn't know if the Champions Tour is more realistic because of his age and the wear and tear on his body.

'I don't know. I don't know what that is. I need time to figure this out with my back and with my body,' he said. 'As I start to get more explosive and start to rotate and see what I've got, then I can find out or assess what tournaments I could play in, how much I should play, where I would like to play. I really haven't gone in depth of what the schedule looks like on the Champions Tour except for a few tournaments. Even our schedule, I've been working on our '27-'28 schedule. It's been not exactly golf based, it's been personally golf based, it's been about trying to do what's best for the Tour.'

His own return-to-play plans aside, tournament scheduling is top of mind for Woods these days in his role on the Future Competition Committee. He said he's been active on the committee but his first formal meeting is Tuesday. In August, new PGA CEO Brian Rolapp appointed Woods chair of the nine-member committee tasked with embracing innovation and defining the optimal competitive model for the Tour with players and fans in mind.

Woods admitted to shying away from initial conversations about 'scarcity' in the schedule. But he sounds ready to endorse a model starting as early as 2027 with fewer events and a season that begins after the 'shield' is no longer intruding on viewership and interest. That means a full-field event schedule that begins in February following the NFL Super Bowl.

'To be honest with you, we started with a blank slate, what would the best product we can possibly create, what would it look like, OK?' Woods said.

'So you take a white sheet of paper and you start throwing ideas out there, and there's like a thousand ideas on this board. Then you add in all the people that we interviewed and what would they like to see and you throw all those up there. Then we start talking to the players, what would they like to see, how can players have the promotion relegation, how can we have more player equity involvement. These are all things that we're trying to include and all the things that we're trying to change.

'Yes, there's going to be some eggs that are spilled and crushed but -- and broken -- but I think that in the end we're going to have a product that is far better than what we have now for everyone involved.'

--Field Level Media