Tiger Woods' Seventh Back Surgery Potentially Ends Any Dreams Of A Return To Competitive Golf

Tiger Woods has announced that he has undergone another surgery on his back, this time a L4-L5 disc replacement operation on his lumbar spine. This marks Woods' seventh back surgery in 11 years, and comes at a time when he was already recovering from rupturing his Achilles, which he announced in March.

"After experiencing pain and lack of mobility in my back, I consulted with Doctor and Surgeons to have tests taken. The scans determined that I had a collapsed disk 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," Woods wrote in a social media post on Saturday.

Woods did not share any sort of timeline for a possible return to golf in his announcement.

Tiger Woods' future has never been more uncertain. Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The 15-time major champion has not hit a competitive shot on the PGA Tour since The Open in July 2024, and with this latest setback, it's not an overreaction to assume it could officially mark the beginning of the end for Woods on Tour.

Woods was seen swinging a golf club in September in a post on social media, and while that was a good sign the Achilles recovery was headed in the right direction, going under the knife for another back surgery is a major setback.

Woods, who turns 50 in December, was not among the list of players in the field for the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial Tour event he hosts, set for December 4-7. While he was expected to return to TGL with his Jupiter Links team in January, that seems like a tall order given his recent procedure.

Since the November Masters played in 2020, Woods has only made 11 competitive starts, making the cut in just five of those starts. 

Realists have known that a Woods comeback where he actually contended for a title would be a modern miracle, given his continuous health setbacks and Father Time grabbing a hold of him, but given his latest back procedure, who knows if we will see him compete on Tour or in a major championship again outside of what will feel like nothing more than a ceremonial start.