Six weeks after undergoing his latest back surgery, Tiger Woods was able to make a long trip to the Bahamas as host of his annual tournament, the Hero World Challenge. The major question on everyone’s mind was how Woods has been progressing through his rehabilitation, a topic the 15-time major winner addressed when speaking with the media on Tuesday — his first public appearance since his latest surgery.
Woods detailed the “slow” recovery process from his disc replacement. After joking that he will play 25 events on both the PGA Tour and PGA Champions Tour next year, he offered a more sobering update than many were hoping to hear. Tiger noted that he does not have a timetable to get back on the course as he cannot yet take full swings with a club.
“I’m probably gonna play 25 events on both tours, and I think that should cover most of the year, right?” said Woods with a laugh. “No, I’m just looking forward to — let me get back to playing again. Let me do that, and then I’ll figure out what the schedule will be. I’m a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision and that type of commitment level. Unfortunately, I’ve been through this rehab process before as a step-by-step, and then once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing and the recovery process, then I can assess where I’m going to play and how much I’ll play.”
“I just got cleared last week to chip and putt,” Woods added. “So, it’s good. It’s been six weeks last Friday. So, it’s been slow. Can’t really do much on a disc replacement; you gotta let it set. Can’t really do much. Now we got the OK to start cranking up in the gym and start strengthening and start doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I hadn’t been able to do in letting the disc kinda set.”
It would be fairly shocking to see Woods playing competitively any time soon. He will not be able to compete in the PNC Championship alongside his son, Charlie, this year, and he will miss at least the start of the TGL season, too.
Tiger is not only making his return from back surgery, he was also working his way back from a ruptured Achilles suffered back in March. At 50 years old, even a supreme athlete like Woods must take a more conservative approach to his rehab and can’t push for a quick return. Tiger admitted as much on Tuesday when he noted the process isn’t going “as fast as I’d like.”
Whether Woods commits to the Masters is always the most telling of where he stands physically. The five-time green jacket winner does everything in his power to play the first major each April, but the physical demands of Augusta National mean he must believe he’s in good enough shape to play, walk and recover for 72 holes.
The Masters is six months removed from his latest back surgery and may give us an idea of whether we’ll see Woods play at all during the 2025 PGA Tour season. In the meantime, he’s not willing to put a timetable on anything and seems to understand the importance of getting his back to full strength before pushing for another return.