The former world No.1, who won the 2008 US Open with a broken leg and injured knee, is not going to return until he is fully ready.
But that does not yet mean he has ruled out crossing the Atlantic to be at Royal St George's in a fortnight's time, although the odds on it appear to be lengthening all the time.
Woods, who aggravated knee and Achilles injuries at the Players Championship in mid-May, said last night: "I want to be out there playing, but I'm just not quite ready yet.
"Everything is progressing. Both the knee and the Achilles are getting better, but I haven't hit any golf balls yet.
"It was a borderline call whether I should have played the Players. I wasn't quite 100% and unfortunately I hurt myself there.
"This time around it's different – I'm setting no timetable. I'm just going to learn my lesson and come back when I'm 100%.
"I've played through injuries before, I've played hurt, I've played in pain – that's just part of playing sports – but I'm not going to do that again.
"I'm being smarter this time. I broke my leg and still played – that's not exactly smart.
"I know what the progression's going to be, just like it was in 2008. Putting, then chipping, then pitching, eventually getting to wedges. It's also dependent on how it all feels on a daily basis.
"Obviously we're trying to push it every day and challenge my leg every day and see how it responds."
Woods, 35, insists there is no reason yet to call off his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' 18-major record. He has not moved from 14 for the past three years.
"Absolutely not," he said firmly. "He won when he was 46, right? I've still got some time and on top of that we're about the same pace I believe in years on Tour and Majors won.
"Golf is unlike any other sport. I mean, Tom Watson was 59 when he almost won the 2009 Open.
"What I would like to do is play this game for as long as I want to and I feel like my best years are still ahead of me."
On Rory McIlroy's eight-shot US Open victory, he added: "That was pretty good, wasn't it? That was very impressive playing – to do that at a US Open to be that aggressive the entire time, that was cool to watch."
lSouth African star Ernie Els has confirmed he will play in the Barclays Scottish Open at Castle Stuart next week.
