Woods underwent his sixth back surgery last week, a reminder that he’s battling more than just the leg injuries he suffered in a car crash in 2021.
As Tiger Woods has tried to limit his golf schedule since his horrific car crash in February 2021, the focus has predictably been on his seriously injured right leg and his ability to walk and recover. We tend to underestimate the serious back problems that never left us.
Woods made a remarkable comeback from spinal fusion surgery in 2017, winning three times, including the Masters in 2019. But only two months before the car accident, Woods experienced a fourth microdischcectomy in December 2020. He had the fifth last week and added to his merger of the spine, this means six inverted procedures in 10 years. That partially explains his difficulties on the course in 2024.
Though the ankle and foot issues have improved, Woods has offered few specific details about his back other than to say it is still an issue.
Woods said in a statement Friday after the surgery that he hopes it will “help relieve the back spasms and pain I’ve been experiencing for most of the 2024 season.”
Woods made his debut at the Genesis Invitational in February but withdrew in the second round due to illness. But he shanked his approach shot to the 18th green in the first round and later said back spasms had affected him.
At the Masters, Woods posted an impressive second-round 72 in difficult conditions, his 24th straight start, before collapsing in the third round, with some suspecting that back problems contributed to his 82, his highest score in 100 competitive rounds at Augusta National.
Woods hit only 8 of 18 greens and needed 34 putts. He finished with two double bogeys, eight bogeys and two birdies for a career-worst frontside score of 42. He struggled so much he nearly retired, but finished in 60th place, last of the field. He was asked about his back afterwards, but still didn’t answer.
Woods then played just six more rounds the rest of the year, missing out on the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open. Woods visited the foundation’s clinic last week and then underwent surgery in Florida.
It was described as a lumbar micro-decompression for pinched nerves and is thought to be similar, if not identical, to a micro-discectomy.
It is unclear whether the bone fragment pinched a nerve or for how long. Woods has said he recovered quickly from previous treatments, but he is still in the recovery process and is expected to be largely out of action for a month.
He needs time for the disc to heal, and whether he’ll be able to play his Hero event in December or play alongside his son Charlie at the PNC event later that month is a big question mark.
Also in question is Woods’ ability to add events to be more competitive