Tiger Woods On Friday he had his seventh back surgery, this time to replace a disc in his lower back that had caused pain and mobility problems.
Woods said in a social media post He had surgery in New York on Saturday and said it was the right decision for his health and his troubled back.
He did not say how long it would keep him away from golf, although it was unclear whether he was trying to play in his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas or the PNC Championship with his son Charlie. Both tournaments are in December.
He has not played since a playoff loss at last year’s PNC Championship.
It was his second surgery this year – he had surgery in March after rupturing his left Achilles tendon – and his second back surgery in the last 13 months.
Woods said he consulted doctors and surgeons after experiencing back pain and lack of mobility.
“The scan revealed I had a ruptured disc in my L4/5, disc fragments and a damaged spinal cord,” Woods wrote in the post Saturday. “I chose to have my disc replaced yesterday, and I already know I made a good decision for my health and my back.”
Woods had the first of seven back surgeries in April 2014, which ultimately led to a lower back replacement in 2017. A year later, he won the Tour Championship and then captured his 15th major and fifth green jacket at the 2019 Masters.
He was injured in a car accident in February 2021, breaking his right leg and ankle, which Woods has said almost resulted in amputation.
He returned a year later at the 2022 Masters.
Since the car accident, Woods has played only 15 times over the past four years, four of them in the PNC Championship, where he can use a cart for the 36-hole event.
