Tiger Woods won't be returning to the course anytime soon. The pro golfer underwent back surgery — his seventh — in October. During the operation, doctors replaced a disk in Woods' lower back. Woods has been recovering ever since, but just shared that his rehab is taking a bit longer than expected.
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Woods shared an update on his recovery.
"I'm probably gonna play 25 events on both tours, and I think that should cover most of the year, right?" Woods joked while speaking to the media during his first public appearance since his latest surgery (via CBS Sports). "No, I'm just looking forward to — let me get back to playing again. Let me do that, and then I'll figure out what the schedule will be. I'm a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision and that type of commitment level. Unfortunately, I've been through this rehab process before as a step-by-step, and then once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing and the recovery process, then I can assess where I'm going to play and how much I'll play."
Woods is currently in the Bahamas to host his annual tournament, Hero World Challenge.
"I just got cleared last week to chip and putt," he added. "So, it's good. It's been six weeks last Friday. So, it's been slow. Can't really do much on a disc replacement; you gotta let it set. Can't really do much. Now we got the OK to start cranking up in the gym and start strengthening and start doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I hadn't been able to do in letting the disc kinda set."
Woods will be sitting out of the PNC Championship, but it's unknown whether or not he will be feeling well enough to compete in the Masters in April 2026. For now, Woods is focused on getting his strength and mobility back.