On Friday, Tiger Woods underwent surgery for the seventh time on his back, this time receiving a Lumbar disc replacement in his L4/5. The 15-time major champion was still recovering from Achilles surgery in March, and there was hope among fans he might be able to return for his event in the Bahamas in December, but those hopes have been dashed.
Woods hasn’t played competitive golf in more than a year, dating to the 2024 Open Championship, and he likely won’t play now until 2026.
But what is his injury, and when will he return? Let’s take a look.
What is a Lumbar disc replacement?
A lumbar disc replacement is a type of back surgery. The spine is made up of bones called vertebrae, which are stacked on top of one another. Disks between the vertebrae work like cushions. They allow the vertebrae to rotate and move without the bones rubbing against each other. The lumbar vertebrae and disks are at the bottom of your spine. Lumbar disk replacement involves replacing a worn or degenerated disk in the lower part of your spine with an artificial disk made of metal or a combination of metal and plastic.
Lumbar disk replacement is often seen as an alternative to the more common spinal fusion surgery, which Woods has also had performed in the past.
How will Lumbar disc replacement affect Tiger Woods’ golf game?
There’s truly no telling. Because of Woods’ injury history, especially in his back, it’s likely this is just another surgery that’ll make it harder for him to play competitive golf. And reminder, he turns 50 in December, so his window to compete on the PGA Tour and is major championships is (and has been, let’s not kid ourselves here) pretty much closed.
The surgery was deemed successful, so as far as recovery, it seems it’ll be up to how Woods’ body responds to the surgery. The procedure was done to alleviate pain, so one would think it’ll be easier to swing a club.
When will Tiger Woods play golf again?
Recovery time from Lumbar disc replacement can be a few weeks to several months. It’s safe to say Woods won’t play golf the remainder of the calendar year, meaning he and Charlie won’t tee it up at the PNC Championship in December barring an incredibly quick recovery.
As for 2026, outside of trying to play in TGL, which is much lower stress on the body than competing in a PGA Tour event, there’s a good chance Woods won’t try to play competitive golf again until the Masters. And even at that, after having not played competitively in almost two years, does he even want to get back in the arena at 50 years old?
The question only he can answer: how much do you still want to play? It’s a question the golf public doesn’t want to have to deal with, but in two months, he turns 50. And it’s time to have the difficult conversation of if this is all worth it anymore.
Woods playing in major championships is always fun to watch, but his body just can’t hold up like it did when he was running away with trophy after trophy. Even the changes in the past six years since his incredible win in 2019 at Augusta National, have made it improbable to imagine he will ever get close to that level again.
As for what’s next, that’s up to Tiger. And there will be a lot of people waiting and watching to see what happens.
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