Timeline of Tiger Woods’ Most Gruesome Injuries and Surgeries

With every sport comes the risk of injury, and golf is no exception. And Tiger Woods stands testament to that. Since turning pro in 1996, the golf legend has suffered numerous injuries. Some were minor, with him recovering within a week, while some were severe enough for him to be sidelined from the sport for years. Explore with us hismost horrific injuries, and all the surgeries he had to undergo that shelved him from the sport during his career.

Tiger Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery for his left knee (2008)

2008 proved to be quite a fruitful year for Woods. He won four times on the Tour, including one major championship that came in June, when he grabbed his third US Open victory. But soon after, things started taking a turn for the worse!

Just 2 days after taking home the trophy, the golf pro announced that he was going through arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair damage to the anterior cruciate ligament. This injury had been bothering him since the Open Championship in 2007. And it got to the point where he could no longer ignore it. He spent the rest of 2008 sidelined from the sport, recovering from his procedure.

Tiger Woods suffers from an inflamed facet joint (2010).

Less than 2 years after his cartilage repair surgery in his knee, the golf pro headed back to the hospital. This time it was because of a bad neck that had been bothering him “for quite a while.” The injury had cost him a shot at the Players Championship that year, from which Tiger Woods had to withdraw during the final round.

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The golf legend believed that his ailment was due to a bulging disc in his neck, but that proved to be untrue. Upon further investigation by the doctors, the source of Woods’ pain was found to be an inflamed facet joint. Fortunately, his recovery didn’t take too long, and a month later he was out on the course again.

A sprained MCL in his left knee and a strained left Achilles tendon (2011)

In April 2011, Woods’ left knee began giving him trouble again. At the Masters, he suffered a “minor” injury to both his knee and his Achilles tendon, which forced him to announce his withdrawal from the Wells Fargo Championship, just as a “precaution”.

But a month later, when he took to the course at the Players Championship in May, it became clear to the 15-time major championship winner that his injury was anything but minor. Just nine holes into the event, he pulled out of the Players Championship.

His injury stemmed from a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee. Furthermore, he has also strained his Achilles tendon. Treatment for these saw Woods miss out on golf for the next three months, which included two major championships.

An elbow strain worse than Tiger Woods had thought (2013)

While playing at the Players Championship in 2013, the golf champion sustained a strain on his left elbow. But the golf pro pushed through the pain and competed in the US Open in June of that year. But every time he swung his club, it was evident that he was in agony.

His injury had clearly affected his performance too, and he finished the event 13 over par, tied for 32nd. Woods then withdrew from the AT&T International that same month and spent nearly a month resting before he got back on the course at the Open Championship.

Missing the Masters for the first time in his career due to back surgery (2014)

The 15-times major winner’s biggest fear came to life when, early in April 2014, he announced that he would not feature at the Augusta event. Since 1995, he had competed at the Masters without fail, but a “successful microdiscectomy” on his back for a pinched nerve put an end to that nearly 2-decade-long streak.

Although in a statement, he said that he had hoped to return to the course “sometime in the summer” that year. He missed out on 2 more majors and 8 more events during his recovery and finally took to the course at the Quicken Loans National towards the end of June that year.

Microdiscectomy surgery made him miss the Hero World Challenge and more (2015)

In 2015, the golf legend failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Soon after, he revealed that he had once again undergone microdiscectomy surgery to remove a minute disc fragment that was pinching his nerve. The announcement came in September, with the golf legend also revealing that he would be forced to miss all the remaining 2015 events, including one that he was hosting – the Hero World Challenge. He added that he hoped to be back “early in 2016.”

Six weeks after his second back surgery, the golf pro once again headed to the surgical suite, where he underwent a procedure to relieve the discomfort he was feeling in his back. Despite the procedure being a success, it wasn’t all good news, since Woods’ recovery would now take longer. And early 2016 had now turned into “as soon as I can.”

Woods underwent his 4th back operation and missed half of the PGA Tour (2017)

After three back surgeries, one would think that his back problems would be finally be over, but that was far from the truth. More than a year after his third surgery, in February 2017, the golf pro withdrew from the second round of the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, claiming back spasms.

Two months later, he revealed that he had gone through yet another back surgery, making it his fourth. The procedure successfully removed a damaged disc in the hope of relieving pain in his back and leg. But as a result of this, he would also go on to miss more than half of the 2017 Tour season. Woods stated that he was looking forward to leading a normal life and “living without the pain” once he had recovered.

Another microdiscectomy procedure after playing at the PNC with his son Charlie (2020)

Unfortunately, the 15-time major winner’s dreams of living pain-free were cut short quite early. While competing alongside his son, Charlie Woods, at the PNC Championship in 2020, Woods felt some shooting nerve pain.

His pain led him to go through yet another microdiscectomy procedure late in December, after the parent-child event that year. The operation saw the doctors remove a pressurized disc fragment in his back. Following this, Woods claimed in January 2021 that he was “focused on getting back out on Tour.”

A devastating car accident almost ended his golf career (2021)

Already recovering from his latest back surgery, things only got worse for Woods in 2021. On the 23rd of February, the golf legend suffered multiple leg injuries in a car crash when his SUV swerved off the road, turned over, and rolled straight into a ditch. The accident was as severe as it gets, and the golf legend could have seen his time on the course over forever, had it been any worse.

In the weeks that followed, the golf legend underwent multiple surgeries for his injuries and began his recovery. It wasn’t until April of the next year that he finally participated in an event. He was part of the Augusta field and ended in 47th place.

Struggling with his right foot Woods still went to the PNC for his son (2022)

Since his life-threatening accident in 2021, Woods participated in a few major championships but couldn’t do much more than that since his body hadn’t yet fully healed from his injuries and surgeries. In December 2022, he announced that he would take the field at the Hero World Championship, but he withdrew last minute due to a severe case of plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Despite his injury, he participated in the PNC Championship alongside his son, Charlie, nearly two weeks later. Woods rode the cart to avoid straining his foot and further igniting his plantar fasciitis. The father-son duo finished 8th on the leaderboard.

Watch This Story – Tiger Woods’ Injury Timeline

Woods’ recovery has been going a lot better since, and just last month, in February 2023, he competed in his first official PGA Tour event since late 2020. Fans certainly hope now that they will see a lot more of him on the course. But only time will tell if that truly is the case.