Tiger Woods said Sunday in an interview with CBS’s Jim Nantz that he hasn’t practiced much after a fifth back surgery in December and wouldn’t guarantee to be part of the final round of the Masters in seven weeks.
“I have to get there first,” said Woods, 45, who was at the Riviera Country Club as a host of the Genesis Invitational.
“I looked at my putter,” he quipped, giving no timeline for his return in the coming weeks.
“I don’t know what the plan is,” he said. “The plan right now is to move on tomorrow and start making progress.”
Woods underwent a microdiscectomy on Dec. 23, a procedure to relieve nerve pain in his lower back. He had this same procedure three times before, once in 2014 and twice in 2015. He then had a much more severe spinal fusion in April 2017, from which he returned less than a year later.
Woods has won three times since winning the PGA Tour at 82, tying Sam Snead. He also won his 15th major title when he won the 2019 Masters.
But Woods never got anything last year, with only one of the top 10 finishers tied for ninth at the Open Farmers Insurance Open in January 2020.
He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and tied for 38th place at the Masters, his last official event.
He had his last procedure three days after competing with his son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship in December.
“I feel good, a little stiff,” Woods said. “I have one more MRI scheduled and then I can start doing more activities. I’m still in the gym doing rehabilitation activities before I gravitate toward more.”
Woods didn’t commit to playing a tournament before the Masters, and when asked specifically about the first major championship of the year, he said, “God, I hope so. But I have to get there first. I don’t have to. a lot of hesitation. one room left. I only have one back. “
It was expected that the recovery from the procedure, which was believed to be at a higher level than the spine from where its previous ones occurred, would take between two and a half to three months. He was said to have hit balls a few weeks later, but Woods ’words indicated he has not done the heavy practices needed to return.
Possible places for his return would be the Arnold Palmer Invitational in two weeks followed by the Players Championship and the Honda Classic. Behind Honda is the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, a tournament for which he will be eligible if he remains ranked in the top 64 in the world. It fell on the 51st Sunday.
The match event is two weeks before the Masters.