There is an even larger question mark hanging over the future of Tiger Woods after the 15-time major champion confirmed over the weekend that he had undergone back surgery.
Unfortunately, Tiger Woods looks set to not play a single tournament in 2025. He did take part in the inaugural season of TGL. But just when thoughts began to turn towards The Masters, the 49-year-old announced that he had undergone Achilles surgery.
Despite not releasing a timescale himself, Woods was expected to be out for the remainder of the year. Unfortunately, a fresh setback has emerged.
Woods has undergone another procedure; this time on his back. Once again, he did not offer any indication of how long he was going to be sidelined for. But clearly, it is going to be extremely difficult for him to tee it up in a tournament any time soon.
The regret Tiger Woods admitted to having about his training at the peak of his career
The worry will be that Woods simply cannot seem to catch a break when it comes to his body. He has put himself through so much over the last two decades in particular.
And if he cannot put together a run of events, it is hard to imagine Woods returning to anything like the sort of level he is content with. He is never going to be someone prepared to make up the numbers.
Unfortunately, speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport suggested that he is extremely pessimistic about the chances of Woods even playing a handful of tournaments again in the future.
He also went on to share what regret Woods admitted to having regarding his training once his body started to break down.
“There was no mention at all of a return to golf. And I think this is it. I really think this is it. So, since the accident, which was in February of 2021 – and remember before the accident, Tiger wasn’t exactly healthy, there was that whole period in 2015, 2016, 2017 when he was going through his back stuff, he was at the Presidents Cup saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to play again’, he wasn’t a healthy guy before he got in the accident. Then he got in the accident,” he said.
“So just since the accident, he’s had I don’t even know how many surgeries, but multiple layers and rounds of surgeries to initially repair that crushed right leg. We’re talking rods and screws and titanium, all in his leg. There was a plantar fasciitis flare up when he could barely walk at The Masters in 2023. Then he had an ankle fusion, a subtalar ankle fusion, which is not nothing. Then he ruptured his Achilles, so there was surgery to fix that. And now we have disc replacement surgery.
“Look, we get so lost in the minutiae of the day to day of Tiger because we want him back, because him being at a golf tournament gives it energy that it just doesn’t have otherwise. But let’s zoom out a little bit and look at what Tiger Woods has done, or more accurately, what he hasn’t done since the accident. He missed the cut in the last three majors in 2024. He has 10 starts total since the accident. His best finish in those starts is a tied for 45th at the Genesis Invitational in 2023. This feels like the end. And I know what you’re thinking, it’s been the end. I’m just telling you how I feel. This one hit me as the end. I feel like his body is breaking down.
“I feel like one thing gets fixed and another one breaks. It’s like a car, you fix the engine and then the brakes go out. At a certain point, you’re like this car is just beyond repair. I don’t know if he’ll play the Champions Tour. I’m not saying he won’t ever play golf again. He’ll still play in the PNC. I think we are done seeing Tiger Woods compete against the best players in the world and it’s really sad. And the more this keeps happening, the sadder it gets I think.
“Tiger gets a lot of credit for inspiring golfers to get in the gym, and he’s definitely a huge reason why. But if you talk to a modern strength and conditioning person, they would be like, ‘I don’t know what the hell he was doing, because no one gets injured like this’. Even before the accident, it’s like a Shakespearean tragedy. And I’m not saying his life is a tragedy because he’s done incredible things, built an incredible legacy, maybe the best player of all time, but he just wasn’t that old when it all fell apart.
“And I remember a conversation that I had with Tiger at one point where I was like, when you look back on all your injuries, is there one thing that you would tell yourself not to do, one thing you regret, and he said, ‘yes, I shouldn’t have run so much’. He used to run miles and miles a day and his knee took a beating. That’s another thing that’s a huge issue.”
What Tiger Woods failed to do in any of his 11 competitive rounds in 2024
Most players would have probably retired some time ago had they been put through the punishment that Woods has dealt with. The fact that he played all four majors in 2024 tells you a lot about his mental strength.
Of course, his greatest major triumph arguably came in 2008 when Woods won the US Open essentially on one leg.
Woods failed to break 70 in any of the 11 rounds he played last year. He did however, manage to make the cut at The Masters.
It was suggested that Woods needed to play more in 2025 if he was going to become more competitive. And following his appearance at The Open Championship – where he was far from being the only big name to miss the cut – there was reason for cautious optimism.
Unfortunately, Woods now appears to be in a cycle where he needs to play more to allow his body to adapt again, but he simply cannot rely on his body just to give him the opportunity.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
