At last year’s Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods expressed optimism that he could reasonably play one tournament per month in 2024.
That, of course, never came to fruition, as Woods’ surgically repaired body limited him to just five events, four of which resulted in early exits, before Woods shut down all golf activity following a Sept. 13 microdecompression surgery on his lower back.
And so, a year later at Albany, where Woods won’t be teeing it up this time around in his limited-field exhibition, Woods was much more tempered with his expectations.
“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 said Tuesday from the Bahamas, where he still took part in his annual pre-tournament presser. “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.”
Woods, who in recent years has battled the dichotomy of not being physically able to practice and play consistently yet also competitive rust from that lack of reps, said that he didn’t have a back spasm or nerve pain following his latest surgery, which was encouraging. However, he added that his still has a “long road” to recovery with no targeted return date. He continues to rehab in the gym, he says, but he was not asked how many golf balls, if any, he’s currently hitting.
Having only played the Hero once since his solo fourth in 2019 (last year’s 18th-place finish), Woods admitted wasn’t “tournament sharp” enough to compete among 20 of the best players in the world this week. He also didn’t say whether he plans to play the PNC Championship next week in Orlando, Florida, where he has partnered with son, Charlie, in each of the past three years.
Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig did report, however, that Woods expects to participate in his TGL team’s season debut on Jan. 14, though Woods added that if that debut was today, it’d be “very difficult.”
Woods’ presser ended with few answers as to when, where and how much we will see Woods play real golf in 2025.
“When I’m ready to compete and play at this level,” he said, “then I will.”
