-
Tiger Woods underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in his lower back after experiencing pain and a lack of mobility, the 15-time major golf champion announced on Saturday.
Tiger Woods announced Saturday that he has another surgery on his back. The 15-time major champion posted on social media that he underwent an L4-L5 disc replacement surgery on his lumbar spine.
The procedure was performed Friday morning by Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
“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 post on X, signing with his initials, “TW.”
The post went on to note that, “On Friday, Tiger underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in his L4/5 Lumbar spine for lower back symptoms. The surgery was deemed successful.”
This is the second back surgery in just over a year for Woods, who had a microdecompression surgery on his lumbar spine in September 2024 to relieve a nerve impingement of his lower back. That procedure also was performed by Qureshi, but at his surgical location in West Palm Beach, Florida.
However, this is not Woods’ most recent reported surgery: Woods announced in March that he ruptured his left Achilles while training and practicing at home and underwent successful surgery to repair the tendon.
Woods was seen swinging a club just last month on social media, where he posted video of himself hitting balls on the range at the NEXUS CUP, an exclusive amateur event hosted by Woods at NEXUS Club New York in lower Manhattan.
Woods said he had the successful operation on Friday in New York at the hands of Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi.
“After experiencing pain and lack of mobility in my back, I consulted with doctors and surgeons to have tests taken,” Woods said in a statement.
“The scans determined that I had a collapsed disc 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.”
There was no timetable given for when Woods might return to competitive golf after the latest in a series of operations and injuries that have kept him inactive since last year’s British Open.
Woods suffered severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash but returned at the 2022 Masters and finished 47th.
Woods, who turns 50 in December, had a back operation last September. He was rehabilitating from that setback when he announced last March that he had suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.
There were available spots in his Hero World Challenge when most of the field was announced last week, but the latest announcement ends any thought Woods might play in the Bahamas event.
Woods has won 82 PGA Tour titles, matching Sam Snead for the all-time record, and ranks second on the all-time major win list, three off the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.
The surgery also brings into question if Woods will play for his Jupiter Links team in the TGL tech-golf league when its season begins in January.