With 15 major championships to his name, Tiger Woods has firmly cemented himself as one of the best golfers – and athletes – to ever grace this Earth.
Unfortunately for him, however, he also has the same number of major injuries to his name.
It’s frightening to think how much more Woods could have achieved had he not spent such a large chunk of his career on the surgeon’s table. He currently has the second most majors in history behind Jack Nicklaus, who has 18, but it’s fair to say that the 49-year-old would have likely at least equalled that had he not experienced such rotten luck with his body.
Woods is currently approaching 10 months without playing on the PGA Tour, with his last appearance coming at The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in July 2024. Since then, he has received pain-relieving back surgery in September and suffered a ruptured Achilles in March, which continues to rule him out of action.
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Now approaching 50 years old, there are fears that Woods could soon call it a day as his never-ending list of injuries continues to grow. As he continues to battle back from his latest setback, we take a look at the World Golf Hall of Famer’s horrific injury record.
1994 – Removal of two cysts from his left knee
Coming off what is believed to be the biggest comeback victory in U.S. Amateur history in August while still a student at Stanford University, Woods, then 18, had surgery to remove two benign cysts and scar tissue from his left knee.
2008 – Arthroscopic knee surgery and later full ACL reconstruction
Having ruptured his ACL in August the previous year, Woods was on the surgeon’s table once more just 48 hours after finishing second at the 2008 Masters, undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery to clean out cartilage that left him on the sidelines for two months of recovery.
2010 – Neck surgery to treat an inflamed facet joint
Less than a year after his infamous SUV crash, Woods withdrew from the final round of the Players Championship with a neck injury. An MRI soon revealed that he had an inflamed facet joint in his neck – one of the more unique injuries of his career.
2011 – Sprained MCL and Achilles tendon strain
Despite Augusta often being a happy hunting ground for Woods, it also provided him with plenty of downsides. In the third round of the 2011 Masters, he suffered a Grade 1 mild MCL sprain to his left knee and mild strain to his left Achilles tendon, forcing him to pull out of the Players Championship and miss the US Open and the Open.
2012 – Achilles tendon surgery
Having already slipped down to 18th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Woods suffered yet another setback with his Achilles tendon in 2012, forcing him off the course during the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship
2014 – First back surgery, pinched nerve
After several months of back pain and missing multiple PGA Tour events, Woods announced that he would miss the Masters for the first time since 1994 as a result of undergoing a microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve.
2015 – Microdiscectomy to take out a disc fragment in his back
Within a year of his first microdiscectomy surgery, Woods underwent the knife for a second time for the same issue after missing the cut in three of the four majors in 2015, this time to take out a disc fragment in his back.
2017 – Spinal fusion surgery
A third back surgery was on the cards for a 42-year-old Woods in 2017, all but signaling that his days of an injury-free career were well and truly over. This time, it was a spinal fusion surgery, which involved removing a disc and fusing the spine together with bone grafts, aiming to stabilize the spine and reduce his persistent back pain.
2019 – Arthroscopic surgery, left knee
Having suffered so much with his back, it was time for Woods’ knee to come back into the equation after a few years of no issues. In August 2019, the PGA Tour legend underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair minor cartilage damage, his fifth time having surgery on that knee.
2021 – Microdiscectomy on a disc fragment, then emergency surgery on leg fractures
In January 2021, Woods underwent a microdiscectomy to address nerve pain caused by a pressurized disc fragment in his lower back, following discomfort after the PNC Championship. Later that year, he had emergency surgery on leg fractures sustained in a terrible car crash in which he was lucky to emerge with his life intact.
2023 – Subtalar fusion surgery, plantar fasciitis
In April 2023, Woods underwent a subtalar fusion surgery on his right ankle to address post-traumatic arthritis from a previous talus fracture sustained in a car crash. The surgery was deemed successful, but required Woods to undergo further rehabilitation.
2024 – Back surgery, nerve compression
Two months after he failed to make the cut at Royal Troon, Woods underwent his sixth back surgery to address nerve impingement and alleviate pain and spasms that had been affecting his playing schedule throughout the 2024 season, which led to him playing only a limited number of tournaments.
2025 – Achilles tendon ruptured
Just when Woods was finally set to make his return to the PGA Tour and first appearance of the 2025 season, his left foot collapsed under the strain of practice and training. It turned out he had suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon, resulting in minimally invasive surgery to repair it and ruling him out for the foreseeable future.
