How Many Surgeries Has Tiger Woods Endured So Far? Painful 29 Years History Unraveled

Tiger Woods was a force to be reckoned with on the greens. His 82 PGA Tour titles and 15 majors are a testament to that. One could say that he still has a lot of fire inside him, and his willingness to not retire just yet is proof. His journey, however, has not been easy. He has endured a lot of injuries, and surgeries, and yet he is standing tall. Just yesterday, Woods announced that he underwent yet another surgery.

“The surgery went smoothly, and I’m hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season,” said Woods in the post on his X account. It is numbered to be the 6th back surgery in the last 10 years. But how many in total has he had?

How many operations have Tiger Woods had to feel his best?

It all started in 1994 when the golfer had two benign tumors and scar tissue removed from his left knee, which led to him withdrawing from that year’s U.S. Open Amateur. This marked the beginning of a series of surgeries and injuries that would later impact his career. In 2002, he had fluid removed from his left knee and benign cysts taken out. The knee issues continued in 2008 when he had his cartilage repair surgery and stress fractures in his left tibia.

Woods’s determination often pushed him to play through pain, but it also led to further injuries. At the 2008 U.S. Open, despite having a double-stress fracture, Woods ignored doctors’ advice and competed and ended up winning his 14th major. However, this decision delayed his recovery, requiring reconstructive surgery just a week later. The prolonged recovery forced him to miss the rest of the season. In December 2008, Woods suffered another injury while running at home during the offseason. Although he didn’t reveal it until the 2010 Masters, early signs of the injury emerged in 2009 when his knee continued to bother him.

In 2010 he withdrew from the PLAYERS Championship citing neck pain but quickly recovered. In 2011, he hurt his ankle at the Masters and had to skip Wells Fargo Championship, and PLAYERS Championship again. Further tests revealed sprained MCL ligament and Achilles issues, keeping him out for three months. Another ligament injury in 2012 forced him to withdraw from the World Golf Championship – Cadillac in March.

As the years went on, the GOAT faced more health challenges including a couple of back surgeries in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the golfer had to withdraw from 2 events on Florida Swing and later got back surgery, citing a pinched nerve. This was also the first year he ever withdrew from Masters. The same issue followed him in the 2015 season when he had to get a back microdiscectomy for the second time to take out bone fragments that were pinching the nerve. If you think the surgery saga ended here, you’re wrong.

What happened to Woods’s health after 2015?

The black clouds of unfortunate health were not over yet. Woods had to get a spinal fusion in 2017, which was his fourth back surgery. This was followed by an arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in 2019. In 2021, he underwent another back surgery and was later involved in a severe car accident in California. His right ankle and leg were severely damaged, which resulted in emergency surgery to repair broken bones in his right leg and ankle.

During this surgery, the doctors had to insert a rod into his tibia and screws and pins into his foot and ankle. One can only imagine the pain the golfer must’ve been through post-surgery. The car accident caused problems for the golfer in 2023 as well when he had to get another ankle surgery because of the talus fracture that took place during the 2021 car crash. And his latest surgery was the recent microdiscectomy the golfer got on his back, which is going to take at least 8-12 weeks to recover.

But despite these setbacks, Woods remains a golf legend and an inspiration to many young golfers, and fans can’t wait to see him on the greens again!