Tiger Woods will miss his first two scheduled events of the 2021 PGA Tour season after undergoing his fifth back surgery procedure in the last six years, but Rory McIlroy predicted he’d make a swift recovery.
The 15-time major winner announced on Twitter that he had “a microdiscectomy procedure to remove a pressurised disc fragment that was pinching a nerve”.
Rory McIlroy, speaking at the Abu Dhabi Championship, revealed that the procedure took place before Christmas.
The surgery followed Woods feeling some discomfort during the PNC Championship, the Father and Son event he played with his son Charlie in mid-December.
McIlroy, who opens his season in the Abu Dhabi this week, said he understood the surgery was conducted on December 23.
‘It was a small procedure’
“I’ve known for a while,” said McIlroy. “In his words it was a small procedure. Obviously you want to avoid being cut into as much as you can, but he was back on his feet the next day.
“Obviously he won’t be playing for the next couple of months. He should be back for the Masters if not before that. He’ll be just fine.
“He’s already won the Masters with four back surgeries, so there’s not much he can’t do.”
It’s the fourth time Woods has undergone a microdiscectomy, once in 2014 and twice in 2015. In 2017 he underwent a spinal fusion procedure that was said to have solved his persistent back pain.
“I look forward to begin training and getting back on Tour,” he added in the statement on his Twitter feed.
Misses Torrey Pines and Riviera
Woods was expected to play the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California later this month. It’s a tournament he has won multiple times, and the course is to host the US Open in June.
Woods won the 2009 US Open the last time the course north of San Diego hosted the championship.
Tiger would also have played the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, a tournament he hosts.
Woods would be expected to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship in Florida in March. He may have played at the WGC Matchplay Championship before the Masters in early April.
Last surgery in 2017
Woods had previously said that the fusion surgery in 2017 would be the final time he went under the knife.
Since returning to competitive golf successfully and winning the Masters in 2019, Tiger has regularly referred to the limitations his body now imposes on him.
Throughout the latter part of 2019 and in limited appearances in 2020, he complained of discomfort and pain, particularly when competing in cooler conditions.
Woods has also had four surgeries to his left knee, which is believed to have contributed to his later back problems.
