Exploring Tiger Woods' injury timeline leading up to his 2024 shock surgery announcement

One of golf's all-time favorite superstars Tiger Woods has sustained a number of injuries throughout his illustrious career. The 15-time major championship winner has announced that he underwent yet another surgery this week.

Woods was spotted just a few days ago at the Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey for the 2024 Nexus Cup hosted by his TGR Ventures company and his TGR Foundation. While he was expected to attend the ongoing negotiations meeting between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in New York City, his social media accounts have announced that the Stanford golfer underwent microdecompression surgery on his lower back to treat nerve impingement.

Here's a timeline of Woods' injuries leading up to this week's surgery:

2002

• He went through surgery in December to take out fluid from his left knee which caused him grave issues with his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
• Tiger Woods returned to play in 2023.

2008

• Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery in April—the procedure aimed to repair damage to the cartilage on his left knee.
• A few weeks later, Woods discovered that he had stress fractures in his left tibia.
• Following his iconic US Open win in June, he had an ACL reconstruction surgery on his problematic left knee and also had his cartilage repaired.
• He returned to play after nine months.

2010

• He was diagnosed with an inflamed facet joint in his neck but did not resort to surgery.

2011

• Woods injured his Achilles tendon and discovered further damage to his left knee in April.
• In May, he sprained his MCL ligament in the left knee and further damaged his Achilles tendon.

2012

• His former injury to the Achilles tendon acted up and resulted in him withdrawing from tournaments in March.

2013

• A left elbow strain in June led Tiger Woods to withdraw from events to seek treatment.

2014

• In March, Woods was experiencing several lower back spasms.
• He withdrew from the Masters in April for the first time in his career and underwent surgery for an impinged nerve in his lower back.
• Woods withdrew from an event in August due to an injury sustained during play. He injured his lower back while playing a shot from an awkward lie in a bunker.

2015

• Stepped away from events in February due to back pain and a glute issue.
• In September, he underwent another microdiscectomy.
• Woods went through a follow-up surgery in October to help with pain management.
• Returned to play in the fall of 2016.

2016

• He missed the Masters yet again in April.
• September saw the legendary golfer work hard to recover and heal his body.

2017

• Woods started to experience severe back spasms in February and did not play competitively for a couple of months.
• A surgery was performed to relieve back and knee issues.

2019

• After suffering from a stiff back in August, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair ligament damage in his left knee.

2021

• Woods had his fifth microdiscectomy surgery in January.
• Following a near-fatal car crash in February, he required surgery on his right leg to insert rods and screws.

2023

• Suffered from plantar fasciitis in April.
• Later that month, he underwent a subtalar fusion surgery for the injury that occurred during the car crash.

2024

• Tiger Woods underwent his sixth microdiscectomy surgery on his lower back in September.

---

When will Tiger Woods return to golf?

It is unclear as to when Tiger Woods will be returning to playing competitive golf. The 15-time major winner had announced in the past that he would be playing at the 2024 Hero World Challenge in December. However, there's no guarantee of his appearance.

With Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TMRW Sports founded TGL league expected to launch in early January, it remains to be seen if he will be able to participate in that event.