Golf journalist Dan Rapaport admitted that Tiger Woods appears to have reached the end of his decorated career after the 49-year-old underwent lumbar disk replacement surgery

15:47 ET, 14 Oct 2025Updated 15:47 ET, 14 Oct 2025

Tiger Woods has been told that he's reached the end of his golfing careerTiger Woods has been told that he’s reached the end of his golfing career(Image: Getty Images)

Golf journalist Dan Rapaport conceded that “this feels like the end” of Tiger Woods’ decorated career after the 15-time major champion suffered yet another health setback.

Last Friday, Woods announced on social media that he underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in his spine. He was already sidelined for the entire 2025 campaign while recovering from a ruptured Achilles he suffered while training back in March.

Though Woods has achieved no shortage of success on the PGA Tour, fans implored him to walk away from the sport following his 33rd injury.

Among those calling for his retirement included Rapaport, who voiced his belief that Woods competed in his last tournament against “the best players in the world.”

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Addressing Woods’ official statement sharing his injury, Rapaport explained: “There was no mention at all of a return to golf. And I think this is it. I really think this is it.”

In particular, Rapaport highlighted Woods’ struggle to stay healthy ever since his serious car accident back in 2021, during which he sustained a shattered right leg and ankle before being pulled from the wreckage using the jaws of life.

“Since the accident, which was in February of 2021 — and remember before the accident, Tiger wasn’t exactly healthy, there was that whole period in 2015, 2016, 2017 when he was going through his back stuff,” Rapaport said.

“He was at the Presidents Cup saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to play again.’ He wasn’t a healthy guy before he got in the accident. Then he got in the accident.

“So just since the accident, he’s had I don’t even know how many surgeries, but multiple layers and rounds of surgeries to initially repair that crushed right leg. We’re talking rods and screws and titanium, all in his leg.

Tiger Woods underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in his spine last weekTiger Woods underwent lumbar disc replacement surgery in his spine last week(Image: Getty Images)

“There was a plantar fasciitis flare up when he could barely walk at The Masters in 2023. Then he had an ankle fusion, a subtalar ankle fusion, which is not nothing. Then he ruptured his Achilles, so there was surgery to fix that. And now we have disc replacement surgery.”

Given Woods’ status as one of the greatest golfers to ever step foot on the course, Rapaport acknowledged that fans have largely ignored his playing struggles in recent years. “Look, we get so lost in the minutiae of the day to day of Tiger because we want him back, because him being at a golf tournament gives it energy that it just doesn’t have otherwise,” Rapaport continued.

“But let’s zoom out a little bit and look at what Tiger Woods has done, or more accurately, what he hasn’t done since the accident. He missed the cut in the last three majors in 2024. He has 10 starts total since the accident. His best finish in those starts is a tied for 45th at the Genesis Invitational in 2023.

“This feels like the end. And I know what you’re thinking, it’s been the end. I’m just telling you how I feel. This one hit me at the end. I feel like his body is breaking down.”

While Rapaport stopped short of suggesting that Woods will never play again, he did suggest that the 49-year-old will no longer be present at big name events.

“I don’t know if he’ll play the Champions Tour. I’m not saying he won’t ever play golf again,” Rapaport said. “He’ll still play in the PNC.

“I think we are done seeing Tiger Woods compete against the best players in the world and it’s really sad. And the more this keeps happening, the sadder it gets I think.”

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