How he defied the odds

After his latest setback, we take a look through the remarkable Tiger Woods injury timeline…

To say Tiger Woods has a chequered injury history would be a colossal understatement. Few elite-level athletes have ever had to fight their body as much as Woods has during his career, and it is a battle that is still ongoing.

There arguably are no superlatives that can do justice to what he has achieved while dealing with such a staggering list of ailments.

After his latest surgery, we look back at how injuries have disrupted the career of the 15-time major champion…

Tiger Woods injury timeline

December 1994: Aged 18, Tiger has two benign tumors and scar tissue removed from his left knee.

December 2002: Eight years and eight majors later, Woods has surgery on his left knee to have fluid drained and cysts removed.

September 2006: After a stellar 2006, Woods injured a muscle in his left shoulder blade. Despite struggling, he played through the pain to win the WGC-American Express by eight shots.

July 2007: The following year, another left knee issue reared its head. This time, Woods ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament while running but opted against surgery.

April 2008: It would not be long until Woods was back on the operating table, though. After finishing second at the 2008 Masters, Woods had arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage.

June 2008: After defying the odds and winning the 2008 US Open with a double stress fracture in his left leg and a damaged ACL, Woods had surgery to repair his ACL.

December 2008: Although he would not discloses it until years later, Woods tore his right Achilles tendon in 2008, capping off a wild 12 months for him.

May 2010: During the final round of the 2010 Players Championship, Woods pulled out with a neck injury before it was later discovered he had an inflamed facet joint.

April 2011: His left knee came back to cause him more grief at the 2011 Masters. During the third round, Woods suffered a knock to that and his left Achilles tendon. He battled to finish fourth at Augusta National.

May 2011: When Woods next returned, he was forced to pull out of the 2011 Players after just nine holes. He would sit out for the next three months after spraining his left MCL and left Achilles tendon.

March 2012: Woods continued to struggle with his left Achilles tendon in 2012. He was forced to withdraw from the WGC-Cadillac Championship with seven holes remaining after re-aggravating it.

June 2013: In the first half of 2013, Woods strained his left elbow at The Players. He battled through the pain for months but eventually had to take some time off between the US Open and The Open.

August 2013: This was the start of the back problems that plagued Woods. He finished The Barclays but suffered back spasms during the final round that had him in so much pain he was on his knees and struggling to pick the ball out of the hole.

March 2014: Woods has to withdraw from the final round of the Honda Classic with severe back spasms before pulling out ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks later.

April 2014: Woods announced he would not play in the Masters for the first time after having microdiscectomy surgery on a pinched nerve. As a result, he would spend another three months away from the game.

September 2015: After persistent struggles with his back, Woods had another microdiscectomy surgery in September 2015 and initially targeted an “early 2016” return.

October 2015: Just six weeks later, Woods had to have follow-up surgery on his back to alleviate discomfort he was feeling.

February 2017: After more than a year out, Woods returned at the 2016 Hero World Challenge. However, that proved to be another false dawn. In the early part of 2017, Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open before withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic with back spasms.

April 2017: Woods has a fourth back operation – an anterior lumbar fusion – which he hopes will alleviate the pain in his back and leg. He would not play again until that year’s Hero World Challenge in December.

March 2019: A solid start to 2019 in which he notched three consecutive top-20 finishes was disrupted when Woods suffered a neck strain and had to miss the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He wasn’t out for long, though, returning at The Players the following week before going onto claim an incredible Masters win in April.

August 2019: After failing to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship, Woods had surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee.

December 2020: Woods endured nerve pain in his back while playing alongside his son Charlie at the PNC Championship and had another microdiscectomy to remove a pressurised disc fragment.

February 2021: Things went from bad to worse for Woods in 2021. After hosting the Genesis Invitational, Woods was involved in a serious car crash in which he broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg and suffered a comminuated fracture of his right ankle. He underwent surgery to insert screws and pins into his foot and ankle, while a rod was placed into his tibia. Such was the severity of the injuries, Woods admitted he was lucky doctors were able to save his right leg.

December 2022: Remarkably, Woods makes the cut on his return to golf at the Masters. He then pulls out after the third round of the PGA Championship before skipping the US Open and missing the cut at The Open. He is next due to appear at the Hero World Challenge, but he withdraws due to plantar fasciitis.

April 2023: Woods makes the cut in brutal conditions at Augusta National but looks in serious discomfort. Unsurprisingly, he pulls out ahead of the final day and reveals he is struggling with arthritis. Woods later announces he has undergone a subtalar fusion procedure to alleviate the arthritis in his right ankle.

September 2024: Despite barely playing and struggling to complete 72 holes when he does, Woods is forced to have microdecompression surgery on his back in September 2024 after struggling with more spasms.

March 2025: There was another setback early in 2025 when Woods announced he had ruptured his Achilles and had undergone yet more surgery.

October 2025: While still recovering from his Achilles injury, Woods announced he had lumbar disc replacement surgery after struggling with more back pain.