Inside Tiger Woods’ 7th Back Surgery — With Bob Harig
All right, joining us here on the Dan’s Golf World Show today, we’ve got Bob Herig. Bob, you know, you’re a little bit of a Tiger Woods historian of sorts. You’ve been writing about him for years, authored several books on Tiger Woods, and I I felt like, you know, I had to go to you to get some kind of updates on the situation with Tiger Woods. Um, where are we at right now? I mean, kind of devastating news coming out of the the Tiger Woods camp about another back surgery. Um, what can you tell us about what’s going on there? Well, yeah, seventh back surgery. And I very well remember the first. And the reason I remember it, it was because it occurred on March 31st, 2014. And Tiger announced it on April 1st, 2014 that he was going to be missing the Masters for the first time. And everybody thought it was an April Fool’s joke. Oh. And I had never heard of the word microisectomy. Um I’ve typed it so many times since that um you know my my word document recognizes it like it’s doesn’t come up as a misspelling. And you know Tiger’s had he’s had um basically five forms of a microisctomy. a spinal fusion, which was the big one in 2017, which actually kind of allowed him that time to get his game back together, win three times, win the Masters, and now he just had a basically a disc replacement surgery. So, I’ve gotten to know way too much about this part of the spine, all due to Tiger. But basically what happened was after the spinal fusion which was on the lowest part of the spine on the vertebrae down there, he was going to clearly put pressure on it when he was swinging a golf club. But because that part was fused, that was not a problem. So now where does the stress go? It goes higher up on the spine. M so that’s why in 2020 actually late in 2020 we didn’t hear about it until January of 2021 which is actually right before he had the car crash before people before the car crash there was all this concern is Tyrie even going to be back for the masters because he had had another microisectomy this was roughly three years after the spinal fusion and then of course all that went away because we’re worrying about the leg so he managed to get through all this time until last year. If you remember, Tiger played five times last year, the four majors, and he he withdrew from Riviera due to illness. He only made the cut at the Masters, and then he finished last, and he never really looked good. He always looked like, and it didn’t necessarily look like it was his legs so much. It looked like his back was bothering him. Well, sure enough, it was. We even saw that uh that moment at the Masters where he was, you know, doing like the ointment on his back, you know, like during the round and all of that. I mean, you could tell, you’re right, it was more than just leg problems. Even then, he had he played an incredible round of golf on that Friday to make the cut for, you know, every time as a pro, he’s made the cut at the Masters. He he set the record for most consecutive cuts. I believe it’s 24 in a row. And then but on Saturday you could tell something something went bad. He he he didn’t break 80. Um and then he missed the cut at the PGA, at the US Open, and at the Open. Um not really close. And he he then so we find out in September he had another microasectomy, which is kind of the best way to describe it is it’s a band-aid to deal with a disc issue. Yeah, it was it if you’re going to swing a golf club at at a at a high rate of speed like he does, you’re going to probably irritate that area. So, what that was doing was it bought him some time again. And, you know, we saw him at the PNC with his son Charlie. He looked good. Yeah, I thought he looked good in TGL. I mean, those numbers on that screen are showing you his carry distances, how far he’s hitting it. You know, Tiger had a lot of club club head speed. So at that time when we were thinking he might come back this year we weren’t so much worried about the back it was again like you know how much is he going to be able to walk. Yep. Then he has the Achilles problem on the left side wipes him out for the rest of the year. And here we are thinking okay well look he hasn’t sworn golf club all year hardly. He should be able to ramp up again and come back. Well either we don’t know this. either in ramping up here recently it got worse or maybe this was inevitable and he was going to have to have this disc replacement anyway. My understanding of it is is this is like a three-month recovery. You know, I mean, if you and I had a disc replacement surgery, we’d probably have a hard time swinging a club in six months. Sure. But he’s, you know, obviously keeps himself in pretty good shape. My my guess is in early January, he’s cleared to do a little bit more activity. Can he get re? You know, my understanding is is this is going to give him relief. This will allow him to swing a golf club. So, okay. Now, now what? Does he wanna Does he want to try to do this again? Does he want to play, you know, TGL? Does he want to, you know, try to play some champions tour where he could use a golf cart? Uh, does he try to come back for the Masters? So, we’re kind of doing the same thing again that we’ve done a bunch of times here over the years. Where do you feel like this procedure stacks up from the microctomies to the fusion fusion and then now a disc replacement? Is this less invas invasive than a fusion, more invasive than the the microisctomy? You know, where does this land in your opinion? Well, the the spinal fusion was the big one. Yeah. That was a big deal. that was, you know, they’re they’re fusing the the bone and um he he needed six months from that before he was going to be able to swing a club again. And my guess is is there was some some pretty good pain associated with that in the aftermath until the until the pain from the surgery went away. Then he felt relief in that area that had let’s you know back up a little bit. The whole reason for the spinal fusion was really not about golf. It was about quality of life. Yeah. The guy was having a hard time getting around. This is 2017. He had been dealing with this for three years. He had had three microisctomies. There’s some there’s some debate as to whether or not doing two of them so close together was a good idea. I think the idea of a spinal fusion was sort of a Hail Mary, last resort. Um, and then he came out of that obviously great. I mean, people just forget Tiger was unbelievable in 2018. He didn’t win until the Tour Championship, but he did win there. Uh, he came back, he won the Masters the following spring. He was the playing captain on the President’s Cup team. Uh, went three and 0. He finished fourth at the Hero that year. And even the following year in early January, he tied for ninth at Tory Pines. He got to sixth in the world after being outside the top 1000. Wow. So like it’s it’s pretty impressive what he did there and I think people probably should appreciate what he did. Obviously the car crash changed everything. Um and it’s made it very very difficult. Now where does this rank? I would say this is more serious than the microisectomy but I think it’s going to help it’s going to be a better result long longer term. Uh you know the it’s it’s going to It’s it’s it’s in other words, instead of instead of having the band-aid on that area, you’ve just addressed it. You’ve replaced it. Yeah. Um and that, you know, that’s a fairly common thing nowadays, it’s it’s it’s it was pioneering surgery 25 years ago and now it’s pretty common. In fact, the guy who did the spinal fusion, his name’s Dr. Richard Guyire in Texas. He was one of the first ones to do uh uh you know this this disc replacement surgery. His whole practice is based on it. It’s a little surprising Tiger didn’t go to him for this. Who knows? You know, obviously he’s got a team of people that look into this. And the guy who did this is the same one who did the last two micro dissect. He’s a guy in New York. So, you know, you just hope that he can find some relief here on a personal level. quality of life level. And then as far as the golf goes, you know, we have to wait and see. Well, I I think quality of life is the part that a lot of us ignore because we’re also, you know, selfish as fans. You know, we look at, you know, the procedures as pathways back to us getting to watch him play golf. But there’s the other part where, you know, he is a human who has to live a life and be comfortable and be able to function in daily life duties without excruciating pain. But, you know, with this year sort of, it seems like things have have compounded and landed back to back a little bit like we were talking about the spring, the Achilles, and now into the fall, the back. Uh, do you feel like in terms of his return to golf, this break is becoming pretty long? Yeah. Yeah, it is. I mean, you know, he went in back before the spinal fusion. He he didn’t play in 2016, none of the majors. He came back at the end of that year, played the hero, played pretty well. The following spring, he went to Tory Pines and missed the cut and then he went all the way to Dubai and played one round and withdrew. So, in the course of 16 and 17, he played in three tournaments. Then he had the the the spinal fusion in 17. He somehow came back at the hero which was kind of an indication that maybe you know this is going to work but you know he had pretty much gone two years without playing golf you know I mean not not in any not in any kind of shape to play golf. We’re looking at now again like 18 months. He hasn’t played since the open. Yeah, he hit shots in TGL and stuff and but I mean I mean how I don’t even know how much he would have been ramping it up here recently. We saw him hit balls at a clinic um you know what, six weeks ago. I mean there’s a pretty good chance he was trying to play at home and that’s why he ended up doing this. It just wasn’t working. So yeah, I mean that’s the thing is there’s so much to this. I mean physically let’s say Tiger’s able to swing a golf club freely and he feels good. man, you know, are you gonna beat Scotty Sheffller not having, you know, hit chip shots and bunker shots and pitch shots and little finesse shots around greens and made three and four-footers. And this is where I’ve written this several times, even forgetting this latest setback. You know, let’s say he did come back next year without any issues. He he played five times last year. He played 11 rounds of golf. he needs to play more. And so then there’s the balancing act. Well, if you play more, you risk hurting yourself or it’s too much stress on his leg, which is where the Champions Tour comes in. I think if he could play a few PJ tour champions events, 54 holes, riding a golf cart, inside the ropes, though, playing on TV, you know, against his his peers, there’s pressure, which is what he needs to feel. Yeah. you know, and those, you know, look, it’s not the same as playing at Riviera, but those golf courses aren’t 6,300 yards. They they push 7,000 yards. There’s a lot of good players out there. Tiger would probably struggle, I think, to to finish in the top half at the beginning because he hasn’t played. Those guys are good, you know. So, but it would be good for him because, all right, now you get under the under the gun a little bit. You feel the heat. You’re inside the ropes. There’s a you can you imagine if you play as a champions tour event how heavily attended that would be the attention it would get the media attention it would be just like old times prime time broadcast for the seniors again. Yeah. I mean so you know and but in my in my way of thinking that’s why it would be good for him and he could probably play one in Florida that’s close by and then use that as a way to get ready. You know, maybe then you try to play Riviera where you have to walk and then you give yourself a little downtime to recover and play a Champions Tour event and then and then play say the players championship, but he’s got to get some reps. You know, to to show up at Augusta and make the cut like he’s done hardly playing is an amazing feat in of itself, but it’s going to be very very hard for him to be competitive. Do you think we’re going to go through another one of these phases where we’re watching Tiger reinvent his swing again? I mean, we’ve obviously seen it change over the years, but then including through the surgeries. I mean, even looking at, you know, say for example, his swing at TGL, if you were to compare that to a swing from five years ago, it looks very different. Now, coming out of another procedure, does this put him back to the drawing board to find another swing that works for him? Actually, I think it probably helps him get back to where he wants to be because he’s not swinging around the pain. In theory, if he’s not in pain, like, you know, once the rehab is done and he’s fully healed and he’s, you know, obviously he’s going to be doing all the rehab stuff, you’ve got to do the strength in that area and the stretching. My sense is the golf swing can go back to where he wants it to as opposed to, you know, getting into bad habits. Uh and and look, he’s ch he’s had to change his swing because he cannot push off that right foot as much. So much Tiger’s swing is so much more upper body now. You know, it’s not the leg drive that we had and uh that you know that he used to have, but yet he still powers it out there. You know, he’s still hitting it over 300 yards when he’s when he’s swinging well, you know. And that’s the thing is I think Tiger needs to learn, all right, don’t try to hit it with Rory 330 or 340. Just hit it 300. That’s plenty. He’s an elite iron player still when he’s when he’s healthy. And the biggest question is um can he get competitive because there’s so many other nuances to the game that you have to have dialed in to to compete. You know, I’m sure Tiger like he could probably go out at home and shoot 67 and not even blink when when when he gets through all this, but taking it to a PJ tour event with spectators and and competing against these guys, it’s just different. He’s the first to admit it. And and that’s where, you know, there’s just the little things that you do to save a round, you know, where you you get it up and down from somewhere to save a par or you you know, you you and whereas if you know, and look, he wasn’t doing that last year, you know, he was shooting in the mid to high 70s at the open, you know, because he just couldn’t I don’t think he had the nuanced shots in his g in his arsenal, you know, he just didn’t uh he didn’t have all that because he hadn’t been able to practice it. he had to be able to get do it under the gun. And that’s that’s why I’m sort of sitting here saying needs to play a little bit more even though that sounds counterintuitive to what he’s been dealing with. Do you think he has the same feeling we do that he wants to get back, he wants to keep doing it, or do you think at some point the frustrations will mount and he’s just going to say, “Thanks for everything. I’m I’m taking a new role in the world of golf.” Yeah, it’s interesting. I mean, people are saying he should do that anyway. Uh, he should retire. You hearing it again? And I’m like, look, it’s up to him. Yeah. He has every right to do this as long as he wants. If he wants to try, he’s that’s the that’s what he’s accomplished and he deserves the chance. I mean, I don’t think Tiger wants to go out there and not be breaking 80. Yeah. I don’t think he wants to be doing this, but I think we also know there’s circumstances involved. I think he’d like to try to get back. He, you know, he likes the idea of of of being able to show his son what he could do. Um, I think being relevant in golf is important to him. You know, he’s got a big role with the PGA Tour. He he, you know, he hosts a couple of tournaments. Um, he doesn’t seem all that comfortable in the Elder Statesman role, which he could easily slide into if he wanted to, but we didn’t see him all year. I It’s incredible to me to think that we never saw Tiger after what the the February TGL match he played. Never saw him again. You know, he did he wasn’t at any tournaments. He didn’t do any news conferences associated with the tour. I mean, I think we want that kind of stuff. I think it makes it easier for that if he’s playing. Um and now, you know, how long is he going to keep doing it? I don’t know. I mean, is it how does it I think if he’s painfree or if he can get it around, he’ll try. But that’s a big if, you know, and I just keep looking back to, you know, the the huge difference between him and Nicholas. Yeah. You know, at at age 50, Jack was pretty competitive still. You know, he played Champions Tour Golf. At age 50, I believe he uh he might have he might have finished in the top 10 at the Masters. At at age 58, he tied for six. It was an unbelievable uh you know masters where he got in the mix on the last day. Uh he wasn’t that competitive in the majors after that but he made several cuts you know and he played in he played it his last US Open uh and his last uh PJ championship in 2000 and he played his last Masters and his last uh uh open in 2005. He was 65. That’s 15 more years for Tiger. Yeah. You know, I mean, does Tiger want to do that? I mean, I think the the goals are a lot more shortterm. I tried to write about this the other day a little bit. Like, you know, 2027 is St. Andrews. Um, even next summer, Royal Burkedale, where the Open is. Tiger finished third at Royal Burkeale in 1998. He had only won one major at that point. That was the after winning that first Masters, he kind of fell off a little bit in the majors. there’s some questions about him and that was the closest he came to winning another major until he won the 99 PGA. So he had only one so Royal Burkedale Mar won. There’s been two more opens at Royal Burdale since and Tiger missed them both 2008 when Harrington won 2017 when Jordan Spie won. I mean you know it was not that that it 20ome years later it’s the same but that was a golf course he had some success on. He hasn’t even been able to go back. Does he want to go back next summer where the open is? Um, you know, uh, Aronomic is where the PGA is where he’s where he’s had some, uh, you know, he’s he’s played there at least. The US Open’s another animal, I think, at this point. Um, it’s at Shinikok where first of all, Tiger’s not exempt. He would need a special exemption unless he and I don’t foresee him trying to qualify. So actually I think Tiger would be better off skipping the US Open and playing some other events around it. You know, maybe going to the Memorial two weeks before, maybe playing a Champions Too event, maybe even playing the US Senior Open, uh, which is at Sciota in Columbus, which is another, you know, historic golf course. So, but this is all like getting way ahead of things here. You know, I’m I’m I’m lining up these things saying Tiger’s going to be fine and he wants to do this. We don’t know. Well, I mean, that’s the the crystal ball we all wish we had. I mean, because we have, you know, again, speaking from the fan side, it’s fun to watch him play. It’s fun to watch the energy in the crowd. It’s fun to watch the way a tournament transforms when, you know, Tiger is on property. Tiger’s at the range. Tiger’s heading to the first TE. Tiger’s on his way back in. He’s finishing up on 18. It’s it’s there’s an energy that that follows him and it’s so fun to be a part of. And I think a lot of that is what we’re hoping comes back at least one more time. We just want one more dose of of that feeling again. I I whenever whenever he has these setbacks I get a lot of on social media, ah he should retire or you know why would we want to watch him like this or you know this is sad or whatever. And I’m like you know what it’s not that sad for all the people who line up to watch him whenever he’s played in any of these tournaments. Yep. I mean, even diminished, you know, people wanted to see Arnold Palmer even though he couldn’t break 80, you know, they still wanted to watch him. Same with Jack, you know, and so it’ll be and it’ll be that way someday for Rory, you know, like people, I think, just want to appreciate seeing him. Yeah. And if he wants to do it and is willing to do it, more power to him. He should be allowed. Like I don’t think anybody should be saying, “Oh, he should retire.” You know, look, he’s at the Masters. He’s not taking a spot from anybody. He, you know, obviously is having won it. He’s he’s uh he’s he’s got a lifetime exemption. We can argue, is he taking a spot from somebody at the PGA and somebody at the US Open? Yeah. But he earned it. Yep. You know, um and same thing for the for the British Open. No, he earned it. So, who who who is going to begrudge Tiger Woods, you know, um his spot in these tournaments if he wants to take it? So, um, yeah, you’re right. I think there’s sort of this hope there could be another one more magical run. Well, I’m, uh, I’m definitely sticking around and keeping my fingers crossed and sending all the good vibes and prayers I can as way because, um, I’m I’m in the crew of people that are not wishing for the retirement. I do still enjoy seeing him out there. But, uh, Bob, thanks for, uh, thanks for calling in with us for a little bit and giving us a touch of your your insight into the world of Tiger Woods. Um, and I guess all we can do is sit back and and wait for, you know, those uh three little triangles that come up on a tweet that hopefully give us good news sooner or later. Sounds good, man. Thanks a lot for having me. All right. Thanks, Bob. Have a good one. Thank you. Well, the expert, the the Tiger Woods historian extraordinaire Bob Herig. Uh, you know, I I feel like it gives me a glimmer of hope just hearing, you know, revisiting some of the comebacks Tiger Woods has had and and the moments that he has overcome such adversity and and again, as I said to Bob and I’ll keep saying, I’m on the side of people that want to see Tiger Woods play. It’s fun, the energy, the excitement, but also getting to experience something. You know, I never got to go to a Tiger Woods tournament when he was in his heyday and he was, you know, winning like crazy and, you know, taking US Opens by 15 strokes. So, the best we get in this modern era is him still out there still playing and and for me, I want to be a part of it at least one more time. So, I don’t know. All the best to you, Tiger Woods. But that’s it for this uh quick little update special edition of the Dan’s Golf World
Tiger Woods just underwent his 7th back surgery — a disc replacement that could determine whether he ever competes again. In this episode of Dan’s Golf World Show, we’re joined by veteran golf journalist and Tiger expert Bob Harig to break down what really happened, how serious it is, and whether a comeback is even possible.
We cover:
• What this latest procedure means for Tiger’s future
• Why the spinal fusion might’ve led to this
• How Tiger looked at the PNC with Charlie
• The realistic timeline for recovery
• Whether we’ll see him at Augusta… or on the Champions Tour
📘 Bob Harig has covered Tiger for over two decades, written multiple books on his career, and offers one of the most informed perspectives in the sport.
If you’re a fan of Tiger, golf, or comeback stories — this is a must-watch.
👇 Drop a comment: Do YOU think Tiger can make one more run?
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