Throughout his career Tiger Woods has been reticent about his numerous injuries and physical challenges, so it comes as no great surprise that the 15-time major winner never let on that his chronically troubled back grew increasingly dysfunctional as he attempted to compete in a handful of events in 2024.

What his prospects are for playing in PGA Tour events or major championship in 2025 remains unclear, but Woods knows that his recovery from micro decompression surgery of the lumbar spine on Sept. 13, his sixth back operation since 2004, hasn’t progressed enough to compete in this week’s Hero World Challenge in Nassau, Bahamas.

“I’m not tournament sharp yet. I’m still not there,” Woods, host of the $5 million limited-field event, said Tuesday during a press conference at Albany. “These are 20 of the best players in the world, and I’m not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. So when I’m ready to compete and play at this level, then I will.”

Woods, who turns 49 later this month, has played in his exhibition event just twice since 2019, when he finished fourth. Last year, he was 18th in his first tournament after ankle fusion surgery in April. He has won the event five times since its inception in 2000.

Given that he only played five events in 2024—his expressed goal for the year—it has to be disconcerting that his back did not hold up. Woods appeared in the four majors, missing the cut in three and finishing 60th at the Masters, last among players who advanced to the weekend. He also attempted to play in the Genesis Invitational, a signature event he hosts at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, but he had to withdraw with an illness.

The flare-up in his back certainly explains partly his poor play in the year’s final three majors in which he collectively shot 28 over par.

“As the year went on, it just kept progressively getting worse to the point where it just wasn’t getting better either from treatments or laying around resting or even activations,” he said. “Nothing felt good, and the MRI showed that.”

It was thought that if Woods was going to encounter any physical impediments to competing, it would be his right leg, which was badly mangled in a 2021 auto accident and for which he has undergone multiple surgeries.

“I didn’t think my back was going to go like it did this year. It was quite painful throughout the end of the year and, hence, I had another procedure done to it to alleviate the pain I had going down my leg,” Woods, winner of a record-tying 82 tour events, said. “So whether my commitment going forward is once a month, yeah, I could say that all over again, but I truly don’t know. I’m just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better, really give myself the best chance I can going into next year.

“This year was kind of … had to toss it away, and I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be and I didn’t play as much as I needed to going into the major championships, and I didn’t play well at them. Hopefully next year will be better, I’ll be physically stronger and better. I know the procedure helped and hopefully that I can then build upon that.”

Woods’ first opportunity to play on the PGA Tour would come in late January at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a signature event for which he is now eligible after the tour’s policy board (on which he now serves) voted in June to grant him an exemption into all eight signature events for his “exceptional lifetime achievement.” The Genesis Invitational follows two weeks later, Feb.13-16.

It is conceivable that Woods might attempt to test his back in two weeks at the PNC Championship in Orlando, where he can ride in a cart while playing alongside his son Charlie in the 36-hole two-person scramble competition.

He was noncommittal on estimating when he can return, having learned long ago that every rehab stint is different, even when he knows what to expect.

“I really don’t,” Woods said, responding to a question about when he might be fit enough for competitive golf. “I’m just progressively trying to test it, keep making progress without setting it off. I don’t want to have any setbacks, just want to keep making progress and give myself the best chance going into next year as possible. I feel like I’m getting stronger, I’m getting more pliable, but I’ve got a long way to go to be able to compete against these guys.”

“I wish I hadn’t known this,” he added, alluding to his experiences of past surgeries, “but I know it very well and I know the process, I know how long it’s going to take. We’ll continue doing all the gym work and continue doing all the protocols and eventually, it will lead to something where I can compete again.”

Main Image: Kevin C. Cox