Tiger Woods last competed in an official PGA Tour event at The Open Championship in July 2024, where he unfortunately missed the cut. Since then, several injuries have posed barriers stopping him from returning to the competitive realm. Now, more unfortunate news surfaced, which poses as a roadblock, casting a shadow on his possible return.

Tiger Woods was present at the Hero World Challenge pre-event press conference in the Bahamas. Reflecting on his health conditions, he shared a concerning update and said, “It’s been slow. Not able to do much on a disc replacement to let it set. Can’t really do much.” 

“Now we got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, started strengthening and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven’t been able to do,” he further added. However, Tiger failed to share an exact timeline for when fans might expect him to return to the competitive realm. But he said he’s hopeful to be involved in the TGL in some capacity.

It all started with a back procedure in September last year, and just when he seemed to be heading in the right direction, an Achilles setback at the start of the 2025 season derailed him once again. As he pushed toward recovery and a return to the fairways, he began experiencing renewed pain and mobility issues in his lower back. That ultimately led to another intervention in October 2025.

Doctors later confirmed a collapsed L4/5 disc, disc fragments, and a compromised spinal canal, findings that made a lumbar disc replacement procedure necessary.

However, despite countless surgeries and setbacks, Woods still looks forward to making a stronger return in the sport. Sharing a brighter side of his recovery, Woods revealed how he has begun chipping and putting since last week. He is at the moment concentrating on the first golf activities since they place less stress on the body than full swings. He also mentioned that he has started ramping up his work in the gym.

Tiger is soon to be 50, and Senior Tour pros have been making assumptions about his potential entry for a while now. When asked about it, he had nothing but jokes to offer, “I’m probably going to play 25 events on both tours, and that should cover it.”

Now, the legend is not looking to be back to grab the victories; rather, he wants to be in the sport that he has loved wholeheartedly. He stated that he wants to “come back to play golf again… my passion to just play, I haven’t done that in a long time.” But amid fans waiting for his return in the competitive sphere yet again, discussions surrounding his retirement, too, have been swirling in the golf community.

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Can Tiger Woods keep pushing his limits to truly silence retirement talks after his latest surgery?

For a long time, Woods has been dealing with injuries, surgeries, and setbacks. Every time the golf community has felt that the career of the legend is coming to a conclusion, the 49-year-old, overcoming all barriers, has tried to leave his mark on the greens. And recently, after he underwent the lumbar disc replacement surgery in October 2025, after missing out on a whole season, the talk surrounding his retirement has again started to swirl in the golfing realm.

“I opted to have my disc replaced yesterday, and I already know I made a good decision for my health and my back,” shared Woods before he underwent the last surgery on his back. 

Although he later shared that the surgery was successfully conducted and he is looking forward to being back with his clubs after his recovery, many felt that it’s high time for Tiger to lay down his clubs. However, going by the recent updates shared by Woods, he is indeed looking forward to dedicating more time to the sport as he has started to concentrate on his recovery and training.