Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods playing together at the PNC Championship has become a sort of family tradition for the two. They played in five consecutive PNC Championships, from 2020 to 2024. Although they haven’t won it yet, they enjoy playing together. Woods even said his favorite person to play golf with outside the professional circuit is no one else but Charlie. However, a recent medical advice might change their golfing plans this time.

In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Dr. Nitin Bhatia, chair of orthopedics at UCI Health at UC Irvine, was talking about LeBron James’ sciatica injury and whether his golfing session with Woods would have been the reason for it. That’s when Dr. Bhatia shared something that could take Tiger Woods’ comeback with Charlie out of the picture. “For the athletes that we take care of, when they’re back toward playing another sport and recover with or without surgery, we tell them that even if they feel 100%, that we don’t let them golf for another three months. My guess is once he gets back, he’ll hold back from golfing until the offseason. You don’t want to irritate that nerve again,” Dr. Bhatia said.

The reason is that golfing does take a toll on the back in a way that other sports don’t. For instance, James has recently taken up golf as a new hobby this year. But before that, throughout his 23-year long career, he didn’t face back problems, but he got sciatica once he took up golf. This naturally points out that for Woods, his long history of injuries and accidents and that constant twisting motion will make it tough to play PNC this year.

The lower back is where golf can be the most brutal. “But yes, that can happen with golf. These things can happen when you’re not playing basketball or golfing. You can be a couch potato and still have disc herniations and sciatica. But golfing is very hard on the lower back and has very high torque. That is something that can certainly irritate nerves,” added Dr. Bhatia.

For James, he’s still new to this. He often plays during the NBA offseason, sometimes alongside his son, Bronny James. James’ early golf attempts have drawn attention mainly for his awkward, stiff swing, which many compared humorously to Charles Barkley’s famously ungainly golf swing. But still, James enjoys the mental challenge golf presents and shares his progress on social media. But it points back to the same thing again. It’s easy for James to pause golf anytime. But it’s bad news for Tiger Woods, risking his 2025 PNC Championship participation.

In the last PNC Championship Tiger and Charlie Woods played, they fired rounds of 13 and 15 under par to finish at 28 under par. They finished second on the leaderboard because Bernhard Langer and his son defeated Charlie and Tiger Woods. However, Woods has had two surgeries after that. He first had Achilles tendon surgery in March 2025.

Since then, he was first seen driving at the Liberty National Golf Club before the Nexus Cup. Fans thought that since he is back, he would play the Hero World Challenge, like in 2023. However, his name was missing from the entries. So, fans thought they would at least see him playing with Charlie at the PNC Championship. Why wouldn’t he play that? After all, it’s like a tradition now. But then came the news about his lumbar disc replacement surgery in October 2025. This was his 7th back surgery, and if he needs to rest for at least three months after feeling 100%, playing the PNC Championship is out of the question.

Add this history of back surgeries to Dr. Bhatia’s points, and it only makes the latter’s advice stronger.

Golfers have to swing hard, especially during the tee shots. For this, they have to twist their lower back a little to generate more power. This leads to lower back problems, which many golfers have faced. A survey of over 31,000 golfers by TPI found that 28.1% experience lower back issues after every round. This indicates that Tiger Woods may need to rest for several months before returning to the course. However, he remains optimistic and has even hinted at playing in TGL Season 2.

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Tiger Woods hinted at playing in the TGL Season 2

Tiger Woods is the co-founder of TGL with Rory McIlroy. Woods played several matches in Season 1, which was a success. Now, TGL Season 2 is about to arrive with several technical updates and advancements. For instance, the greens are made bigger to replicate the actual greens on a golf course. Similarly, management has adjusted tee holes to improve the fan experience. From graphics to bunkers, there’s a lot changing.

After a surgery in October, Woods has over 3 months to make a comeback to TGL Season 2. He hinted at it through a comment on X. His TGL team, Jupiter Links Golf Club, shared an X update to wish Woods a quick recovery after his surgery. “Tiger wishing you a quick recovery as we gear up for Season 2 of @TGL ! Rest assured, @WillLoweryGolf is taking great care of your clubs! @TigerWoods @Maxhoma @joohyungkim0621 @K_Kisner,” the post read. To this, Woods replied, “I’ll be there for every match! Looking forward to seeing everyone on January 13th for our home opener. And @willlowerygolf, hands off my sticks!”

Although Tiger Woods didn’t say whether he will play or not, he will be there to watch the games. And once he is there, who knows, he might actually take on the clubs to hit some strokes. Regardless of whether he plays or not, his presence at the SoFi center alone can be enough to increase the excitement among fans.