Former Masters champion Vijay Singh has just withdrawn from the 2025 tournament due to injury, Augusta National officials announced Monday morning. The 62-year-old Fijian, who captured the Green Jacket in 2000, will miss the prestigious event for the first time in over 30 years.
“Due to injury, Vijay Singh has informed the Competition Committees he will not play in the 2025 Masters Tournament,” the official Masters Tournament account posted on social media. Tournament organizers did not specify the nature of Singh’s injury in their announcement, which came just three days before the year’s first major championship is set to begin.
The three-time major winner joins Tiger Woods among the 17 past champions who will not compete in this year’s Masters field. Woods, a five-time champion at Augusta, continues to recover from surgery to repair his left Achilles tendon last month.
Singh’s withdrawal marks the end of a remarkable streak of 30 consecutive Masters appearances dating back to 1994. During that span, his crowning achievement came in 2000 when he held off Ernie Els and David Duval to secure victory at 10-under par.
The 2025 tournament would have also marked the 20th anniversary of Singh’s infamous clash with Phil Mickelson during the 2005 Masters. That confrontation started when Singh complained to officials about Mickelson’s golf spikes during the second round, claiming they were damaging Augusta’s greens.
The dispute became famous when Mickelson, after learning Singh was discussing the issue with other players in the locker room, confronted his rival in a heated exchange. Steve Williams, Tiger Woods’ former caddie at the time, later confirmed the incident, stating, “There’s no love lost between those two, that’s for sure.”
Despite their frosty relationship, Mickelson publicly defended Singh in 2020 when the Fijian faced criticism for taking a spot on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour.
“It’s no secret VJ and I aren’t close,” Mickelson wrote on social media, “but he’s earned the right to play when and where he wants.”
Singh’s absence this year removes one of Augusta’s most consistent competitors from the field. Since his first Masters in 1994, he has compiled an impressive record that includes 11 top-10 finishes in addition to his 2000 victory.
The first round of the 2025 Masters Tournament begins Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.