Tiger Woods has suffered a back injury and revealed on Tuesday that he recently had a fifth surgery that will keep him from starting the year until after the West Coast Swing on the PGA Tour.
Woods will not play next week at the Open Farmers Insurance in Torrey Pines, which he has won seven times, most recently in 2013. He also won the U.S. Open in 2008 at Torrey Pines, which is re-organizing the Open of the United States in June.
You will also miss the Genesis Invitational from 18 to 21 February in Riviera, where it serves as the host of the tournament.
In a statement from its TGR Foundation, that Woods has also tweeted, did not say when he had microdiscetomy surgery. It was to remove a snippet of pressure disc that caused him nervous pain during the PNC Championship last month that he played with 11-year-old son Charlie.
Doctors said the operation was a success and predicted a full recovery, according to the statement.
“I’m looking forward to starting training and I’m focused on getting back on tour,” Woods said.
The year Woods last won at Torrey Pines is when back problems began to surface. He had his first microdisectomy just before the 2014 Masters, and then did two more in September and October 2015.
The fourth surgery in April 2017 was important to fuse the lower spine. Woods ’return was successful, securing a victory in the 2018 Tour Championship, the first in five years, and ended with the Masters victory in 2019, his 15th major and his first in 11 years.
When he won the Zozo Championship in Japan in the fall of 2019, he tied Sam Snead’s professional victory record with the number 82, and the record seemed to be just a matter of time. But it was never in big dispute all last year and lost a full month with a minor problem before the gulf was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When he returned in July, he finished no better than a tie in 37th place in the PGA Championship in seven tournaments he played. In six of those events in which he made the cut, he finished a total of 107 shots off the scoreboard.
He turned 45 late last year and his surgery count is now up to 10: five in his left knee, five in his back.
Woods said after tying for 38th place in his Masters title defense that he has tougher days than others.
“My body only has moments when it doesn’t work like it used to,” he said in November. “No matter how hard I try, things don’t work out like they used to, and no matter how much I ask this body, sometimes it doesn’t work. Yes, it is harder than others to motivate yourself sometimes.
“Yeah, because things just hurt me and they have to deal with things I’ve never been through.”
He played in the PNC Championship with his son and finished seventh.
Woods plans to be on Riviera in his role as host of the tournament. The statement only said he would miss Torrey Pines and Riviera. It hasn’t been so predictable with his schedule in recent years that he led the Masters from April 8-11.
The World Golf Championship event recently played in Mexico has moved to Florida and follows the West Coast Swing. Then there’s Bay Hill, where Woods has won eight times (all before his back surgeries), but has skipped the last two years and The Players Championship. There are three more tournaments after this Masters.