Tiger Woods went through a seventh back surgery Friday, this time to replace a disk in his lower back that had caused pain and mobility issues.
Woods said in a social media post Saturday that he had the surgery in New York and added it was the right decision for his health and his troubled back.
He did not mention how long it would keep him out of golf, though it was unclear if he was trying to play in his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas or the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie. Both tournaments are in December.
Woods hasn’t played since a playoff loss in the PNC Championship last year.
It was his second surgery of the year — he had a procedure in March after rupturing his left Achilles tendon — and his second back surgery in the past 13 months.
Woods said he consulted doctors and surgeons after experiencing pain and lack of mobility in his back.
“The scans determined that I had a collapsed disc in L4/5, disc fragments and a compromised spinal canal,” Woods wrote in the post Saturday. “I opted to have my disc replaced yesterday, and I already know I made a good decision for my health and my back.”
Woods had the first of his seven back surgeries in April 2014, which eventually led to having his lower back fused in 2017. A year later, he won the Tour Championship and then captured his 15th major and fifth green jacket at the 2019 Masters.
He was in a car crash in February 2021 that shattered his right leg and ankle, which Woods has said nearly led to an amputation.
Woods returned a year later at the 2022 Masters.
Since the car crash, Woods has played only 15 times in the past four years, four of those at the PNC Championship, where he can use a cart for the 36-hole event.
