The news has broken today that Tiger Woods underwent a fifth back surgery, which brings up some uncertainty for the year 2021… Will Tiger return and be ready for the Masters or will he retire?
Tiger Woods undergoes fifth back surgery
Tiger Woods, 45 has been dealing with back stiffness which was an inevitable result of a spinal fusion back surgery he underwent in 2017.
On December 23, Woods underwent his fifth back operation, a microdiscectomy procedure to alleviate nerve pain in his lower back.
Tiger working on recovery
Luckily for Tiger, this most recent surgery is a minor one, and typically does not require an overnight hospital stay. However, this recent procedure, like any surgical operation, put some trauma on the body and definitely requires some time to recuperate and recover. Likely, Tiger will undergo physical therapy treatment.
Reportedly, Woods has already been out hitting balls after the surgery.. However, he will not be recovered in time to participate in some events he was previously scheduled for. Two of those tournaments are the Farmers Insurance Open as well the Genesis Invitational, ESPN reports.
What’s on Tiger’s schedule – will he play?
There’s no word yet on what other tournaments Tiger will participate in or miss, but here are a few of the events he had been previously scheduled to play…
According to Rory McIlroy, Tiger should be recovered in time to play in the Masters Tournament.. “In his words, it was a small procedure,” said McIlroy. “Obviously, any time you’re being cut into, you try to avoid that as much as you can. But he was back on his feet the next day, so I don’t think we can read too much into it.”. If what McIlroy assumes is true, then Tiger will likely sit out between 2 to 5 tournaments until he returns to form, if he returns at all in 2021.