AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 12: Tiger Woods of the United States hits his tee shot on the second hole during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 12, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)It is always nerve-racking when Tiger Woods has another procedure on his back, but it sounds like the recently-announced surgery was not a major cause for concern. His long time friend Notah Begay, a former professional golfer and Woods’ old teammate at Stanford, says that he’s already on his feet hitting golf balls.
Earlier this week, Woods’ team announced that the golf great underwent a “microdiscectomy procedure” to remove a “pressurized disc fragment that was pinching his nerve.” The disc fragment reportedly bothered him at the PNC Championship, where Woods and his son Charlie finished 7th.
Tiger is set to miss the Farmers Insurance Open and Genesis Invitational in coming weeks. Obviously, the hope is that he can compete at the 2021 Masters Tournament, and attempt to inch closer to Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 Major Championships. It sounds like he could be on pace to return in time to compete there.
“He’s fine,” Begay told Golf Central this week. “I mean, I literally 15 minutes ago exchanged texts with him, and he was hitting golf balls. And so it’s not like he’s laying in the bed watching reruns of Friends. He’s gotten the pain alleviated.”
“I promise he wasn’t trying to rip his driver out there, but he’s going to let it come back, he’s going to let it heal and we all know that he’s got the event in April circled,” Begay continued. He doesn’t sound too concerned about the long term prognosis for Tiger Woods after this recent procedure.
Earlier in his career, Woods’ main issue came with his knees, and he had multiple knee surgeries through the 2000s. Since 2014, his back has been the major area of concern, with multiple surgeries to address back issues costing him time over the last decade.
Hopefully this one is as minor as Begay says. Even when he’s not playing at his best, having Tiger Woods involved gives serious extra juice to a tournament, and makes a major like the Masters can’t miss-TV.
