5 Big Names Returning To Pro Golf In 2026

Not for the first time in recent years, 2025 was largely dominated by players firmly established in the game.

In men’s golf, three of the four Majors were shared between the top two in the world rankings, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, with both players also securing multiple big wins elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Jon Rahm made it two LIV Golf Individual Championships out of two since joining the circuit.

The women’s game also saw some big names add to their already impressive legacies, including Minjee Lee claiming her third Major title and Jeeno Thitikul closing out victory in the LPGA Tour season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship, for the second consecutive year.

While many big names were ever-present throughout the year, others were conspicuous by their absence. Here are five of the biggest names expected to return in 2026.

Tiger Woods

Nowadays, it’s hard to envisage Tiger Woods going through a season injury-free, but there was room for optimism at the start of 2025.

After looking fit at the end of 2024 in the PNC Championship, Woods made his TGL debut in January before he was dealt a major personal blow with the death of his beloved mother, Kultida, in early February.

That led to his withdrawal from the Genesis Invitational, but he soon returned to TGL action, suggesting that at least his injury problems remained at bay.

It proved a false dawn, as he revealed in mid-March that he had undergone Achilles surgery, which effectively ended his season.

Further surgery followed in October, this time on his back, and it soon became apparent he wouldn’t return for December’s Hero World Challenge, which he organises, or the PNC Championship.

At the Hero World Challenge, he gave an update on his progress, saying: “I just got cleared last week to chip and putt so it's good... it's been six weeks last Friday. It's been slow.”

However, he couldn’t give a return date, adding: “I’m just looking forward to... just let me get back to playing again. Let me do that and then I'll kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be.”

Jessica Korda

While Woods hasn’t made a competitive start since the 2024 Open, it’s been even longer since Jessica Korda was seen in meaningful action.

The six-time LPGA Tour winner and older sister of World No.2 Nelly has not played since May 2023 after becoming a mother for the first time.

Her son, Greyson, was born in 2024, and because of the LPGA Tour’s maternity policy, she is able to take up to 24 months from the date of the child’s birth before resuming her playing career.

Korda revealed in 2024 that she had 2026 in mind for a return date, but in fact, she made a reappearance a few weeks earlier, at the Grant Thornton Invitational.

Ahead of the mixed team event, where she linked up with Bud Cauley, she told the media she was looking for a tournament “I could possibly test my body out in,” and described appearing in it as “almost a no-brainer.”

Having come through that unscathed, it’s hoped she’ll return to the LPGA Tour proper in 2026.

Justin Thomas

Like some other big names in 2025, Justin Thomas had his fair share of success during the year, including a couple of runner-up finishes and his first victory in three years at the RBC Heritage.

By the time Thomas announced in November that he had undergone back surgery after a disc problem, his season was already winding down, but it did curtail some of his plans, necessitating withdrawal from the Hero World Challenge and the Skins Game.

In an Instagram message announcing the surgery, Thomas couldn’t give a return date, but wrote: “While I will miss some events in the beginning of 2026, I want to be very smart and patient in letting my disc fully heal so it isn’t an issue again.”

Bubba Watson

Like Thomas, Watson had a decent 2025, with a T14 at The Masters one of the highlights as well as several strong performances in the LIV Golf League.

However, his aspirations of playing more golf in the closing weeks of the year were ended by a lesion on his left ring finger.

In mid-October, Watson explained on Instagram that the growth had been “causing me pain and affecting my ability to grip a golf club the way I want.”

He added that the procedure to remove it meant he wouldn’t play golf for “up to eight weeks.”

The surgery meant Watson couldn’t tee it up at the International Series Philippines and Link Hong Kong Open, as intended, but the Range Goats GC captain also said he should be “ready to play in time for the 2026 LIV Golf season,” which gets underway in Riyadh on February 4th.

Georgia Hall

Hall had a full schedule for much of the year, but since the LET’s PIF London Championship in August, she hasn’t played at all.

But why is that? The answer finally arrived in mid-December, when she announced she is pregnant with her first child.

Hall, who announced her engagement to DP World Tour winner Paul Dunne in July, gave a tentative timeline for a comeback.

Her baby is due to arrive early in the New Year, and Hall is targeting a return in June with a view to teeing it up at the AIG Women’s Open in late July, which in 2026 comes from Royal Lytham & St. Annes, where she won the title in 2018.

She told the official AIG Women’s Open website: “I'm looking at coming back around June time, maybe late June.

“And obviously for me to come back and play where I won in 2018 is very special and I don’t want to miss it for a number of reasons. That's been my main focus and why I'm coming back so soon.”