Tiger Woods’ road to return suffers setback as veteran undergoes another surgery

Tiger Woods' comeback hopes have taken a big hit as the ace golfer recently underwent another surgery. On Saturday, October 11, the 15-time major champion revealed that he had collapsed L4 and L5, which forced him to do another lumbar disc replacement surgery in New York.

Tiger Woods is an 82-time winner on the PGA Tour and has been out of action for over a year now. While fans were hoping to see their favorite star return to action soon, the veteran golfer announced gutting news about his fresh injury.

"After experiencing pain and lack of mobility in my back, I consulted with Doctors and Surgeons to have tests taken," he wrote in an official announcement. "The scans determined that I had a collapsed disc in L4/5, disc fragments and a compromised spinal canal. I opted to have my disc replaced yesterday, and I already know I made a good decision for my health and my back." "On Friday, Tiger underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in his L4/5 Lumbar spine for lower back symptoms. The surgery was deemed successful and performed by Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi and his team at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York," the message further stated.

Tiger Woods hasn’t played professional golf since the Open Championship 2024 in July, while he was last seen competing at the PNC Championship. Since suffering from a major car accident in 2021, the golfing legend has played only a handful of events. Since 2022, he has played just ten official events with eight of them being the majors.

The five-time Masters champion was set to make a return earlier this year at Augusta before he was forced to undergo herniated disc surgery. A couple of years ago, he had also undergone subtalar fusion surgery, which kept him out for the majority of 2023. With the new surgery taking place, the wait to see the legend back on the golf course will be even longer.

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When did Tiger Woods last made a cut?

Tiger Woods' last cut came at the Masters Tournament 2024, where he carded 73, 72, 82, 77 to go 16-over par. This was his 24th straight cut at Augusta National, making the fresh record of most consecutive cuts at the tournament.

The rest of the season was quite disappointing for Woods as he missed the cut in the remaining three majors. Besides, he was also forced to withdraw at the Genesis Invitational due to flu.

Woods' last unofficial appearance was at the PNC Championship with son Charlie Woods. The duo finished runner-up at the family special event after losing to Bernhard Langers and Jason Langer in a thrilling playoff.

Edited by Shobhit Kukreti