Tiger Woods has revealed his recovery from his latest back surgery is not going ‘as fast as I’d like it to be’.
Woods, the legendary 15-time major winner, had lumbar disk replacement surgery on October 10.
He has not played a round on the PGA Tour since the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon.
And it appears he is still far from ready to make his long-awaited return to competitive golf.
Speaking on Tuesday, Woods revealed he was cleared to start chipping and putting last week but is still not close to a full return.
‘I just got cleared last week to chip and putt so that’s good,’ he said at a press conference before the Hero World Challenge event he hosts in The Bahamas.
‘It’s been six weeks (since his surgery). It’s been slow and you can’t really do anything on a disc replacement. You’ve got to let it set.
‘Now we’ve got the ok to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, start strengthening and doing more of the rotational component that I haven’t been able to do.’
Woods will turn 50 on December 30, making him officially eligible to compete on the senior tour and he said he ‘would probably play 25 events on both tours’.
In 2022, Woods played just three tournaments and in 2023 he managed just two. In 2024, he appeared five times but missed the cut at the PGA Championship, US Open and The Open.
Back in October, The Daily Mail spoke to a source close to the golfer to find out how he plans to recover – and if he wants to play again when he is back healthy.
‘He’s not stupid. He knows things are winding down, and he’s coming to terms with it,’ the insider admitted. ‘He’s turning 50 this year.
‘He won’t retire but he’s slowing down. He wants to do at least one more major and to perform well in it. He wants to end the career with a bang, not a whimper. But right now, we’ll have to see.’
The source close to Woods stressed that the golfer’s main focus at present is his recovery – and that will determine his future.
‘He’s not in denial, but he wants to push himself until there’s nothing more he can do. It depends on his recovery if he’s there yet or not. Seems pretty likely that he is,’ they added.
