Tiger Woods REVEALS his Biggest REGRET (is this the END?)

Tiger Woods REVEALS his Biggest REGRET (is this the END?)

All right, is this officially the end for Tiger Woods? After undergoing yet another surgery, fans are definitely disappointed to see him set back even further. And the clock is ticking. Tiger turns 50 later this year, which does make him eligible for the Champions Tour. I’m going to talk about that in just a second. But we’ve also got Tiger expressing what is his biggest regret after a long list of injuries and and issues and surgeries. It does make you wonder, is there something that Tiger regrets? Is there something that he would have done differently? But even more importantly, what does the future hold? Tiger recently gave a little bit of an indication, but it was a bit cryptic. So, we’re going to kind of break that down and see, are we going to see him playing or moving into some other capacity? And of course, now we also have plenty of fans who are speculating what might just be the last time we see Tiger play any competitive golf. A big final farewell potentially coming at the Open Championship in 2027. So, let’s go through. We’re going to break down all the whole timeline, everything that Tiger and others have said to see if there’s any indication of what the future holds. And like I said, really kind of digging in and saying, does golf really need Tiger Woods? I mean, think I think we all want to see Tiger Woods out there playing competitively, but do we need it? Some of the numbers kind of point to the fact that maybe we don’t. Maybe the game has a point here where it is moving on officially from Tigers influence in a lot of ways. So, there’s definitely a lot to break down. Of course, first we want to thank this week’s sponsor, Titus. And guys, Titus is always looking for ways to help you shoot lower scores. And of course, you guys know the golf ball can make a big difference. So, Tylus alignment integrated marking or aim are alignment lines precisely printed on your Titus golf ball. 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I I think any Tiger news is news that kind of makes its way through the golf community very fast. So, I doubt we’re breaking anything to anyone here, but if you did miss it, Tiger did release a a statement saying that he underwent yet another surgery. I am exactly from Tiger. He said, “After experiencing pain and lack of mobility in my back, I consulted with the doctors and surgeons to have tests taken. The scans determined that I had a collapsed disc in the L45 in the L45. Disc fragments and a compromised spinal canal. I opted to have my disc replaced yesterday and I already know I made a good decision for both my health and for my back.” and Tiger in that, you know, and with his team and everyone, no one released any type of timeline, but as you can imagine, and as many of us already kind of know, we’re we’re pouring it on at this point, his list of surgeries and what he’s been through, many people just reference the abuse that his body has been through through the years. Yes, you know, he may be physically recovering and capable to swing a golf club again, but that is a far cry from having the ability to play at the highest level. We’re talking about PGA Tour. We’re talking about major championships. That’s a totally different thing. And it becomes a question is like are we being a bit delusional to think that at this point after just one surgery after another there’s even the potential chance to see him play in that capacity again? Yeah. No, I I think that a majority of the golf world after that last appearance on green grass uh they’re convinced that the best days are are gone and we’re not going to see him again. We got a glimpse of him in TGL which was a different tiger. you know, you know, it’s an indoor event versus the Tiger that we were used to seeing. So, I think a majority of the golf fans, including myself, I mean, I’m in the majority. I think I think I’m in the majority of people think that there was no hope for him to ever come back and be a as competitive uh and win. Uh I was listening to a bunch of other podcasts on this recently. Uh Trey Wingo did one. He was talking about, you know, if Tiger had a cart exemption, you know, you know, he would be he’d probably come back and win some PJ tours and even a major. And I even disagree with that. I mean, there’s so much talent on the PJ tour that’s far better than Tiger uh is now and even after this urgy will be. Um, so I think yeah, I don’t think we’re going to see him. And I think the reason why we even have this conversation because it would seem common sense would dictate that he’s done. I think it’s just because Tiger has surprised us so many times. The fact that he returned to competitive play after the car accident and the fact, you know, him winning that last Masters every after everyone thought he was done. Yep. You almost feel like he’s fooled us too many times, right? He’s too many times we thought he was done and here he is and he’s back. So that I think is why we have to have the conversation. But you bring up a couple good points and I want to talk about his future and where he might fit because maybe it is certain types of capacities. Maybe it’s the TGL where there’s not a lot of walking and he could swing a club and we could still get a little bit of a tiger fix because I don’t think we’re asking for much. We’re, you know, as fans, a lot of us are not asking for him to compete in 30 events a year. We want to see him a couple of times and we will talk about that PGA Tour champions because there is, you know, a possible motivation for Tiger to add to his, you know, USGA championships and come back and win a senior major. Yeah. you know, a senior US Open, something like that. So, there I think there’s something worth talking about. But talking about that timeline, really just kind of looking anywhere for some indication of Tiger, what he said, if he’ll be able to swing a club again, if he’ll be back. And Tiger in his own kind of kind of cryptic way here, he he took to Twitter and he was responding to a tweet from his own team, Jupiter Lynx Golf Club. Uh, and he said, “I’ll be there for every match. looking forward to seeing everyone on January 13th for our home opener and you know Willow Lowry golf he goes hands off my sticks. He had a little joke there cuz he was say he’s going to take his clubs but I think the wording was you know very carefully chosen there saying I will be there. Y that does not mean he’s going to be playing. Um and I think that that is where the TGL was smartly lined up where we saw you know four players on the team. so that you could have only three, you know, a guy could sit out. And we even saw towards the end of TGL last year a couple of times where we had oneoff contract signed where guys were on the team for one day to come in and play. So, we might see some some fluidity there. But like I said, it does indicate where Tiger’s focus, which we’re going to talk about later in the show, where his focus might be going forward in a lot of these business ventures. Tomorrow golf, TGL being one of those. So, I just wanted to take a quick look and just a quick kind of recap of his entire kind of history with a lot of the injuries that he’s been through, a lot of the surgeries he’s been through. And I mean it’s a long list so I’m not going to go through the full thing but a lot of the and this is going to weigh heavily into when we talk about what Tiger said was his biggest regret in just a second but for we think of these back surgeries because the fact that that’s been the last couple rounds but really Tiger didn’t start to have back injuries and back surgeries until late into the 2010s 2011. Prior to that, it was predominantly having to do with his knees and his legs. I mean, even going back into college, his Stanford days, he had his first surgery on his his left knee, and that was to remove some cysts. But he had many ACL surgeries. I’m looking 27 uh 2002, 2007, uh 2008, 2008, later again in 2002 surgeries in 2008. all on the, you know, knees, ACL repairs. Um, he had another a a left knee sprain in 2011. Um, he had, you know, some stuff we saw elbow stuff coming in later, but it wasn’t actually it wasn’t until 2014 that he had his first major reported back issues, back spasms, and things like that. So, his it really his knees in a lot of ways held him back. And I and the reason I bring this up too is because Tiger has been largely scrutinized especially now by trainers and things like that of saying like he because of the fact that he kind of revolution the game with his training ethic and we’ve seen it before like his you know the way he would play and he would run and he wait do all these things and it’s been scrutinized of like did he do too much or was he doing it the wrong way and this this is important because a lot people will learn from what he did and take that into account with with golfers now and their longevity in the game. Um, but you know after that it became a laundry list of course of back surgeries. Then you had the car accident and that was a dramatic damage as we all know to his leg. Again, not telling you guys anything you don’t know, but I think it is important to kind of look back and say that it always hasn’t always been his back. It may feel that way right now, but it hasn’t always been that way. No, it hasn’t always been that way. And the thing I keep thinking about with Tiger is like golf doesn’t really need Tiger anymore, you know, like he hasn’t really been he wasn’t even at Ryder Cup. His presence wasn’t even there, right? Um, you know, he’s going to miss the the the father-son the PNC championship, you know, that that event coming up. Obviously, he hasn’t officially announced that, but most likely. Yeah. I mean, after this surgery, I think I would guess that as well, right? Um, but just like, you know, I think golf’s in a really great spot. I mean, I hate to say that, you know, Scotty Sheffler is the next Tiger, but we’re in a spot where we’re seeing guys do Tigeres things and the game is so healthy and, you know, viewership and and events and we saw how great Ryder Cup was with fans and people getting into the game. So, I think Tiger’s done everything that he needed to do to grow this game and get it to where it is. Um, would it be nice to see one of your favorite players of all time, someone you grew up with, come back and play again, even if it’s the Champion, which I know we’re going to talk about, but yes. But I think if he just hung it up and you and he said, “I’m never going to step on another golf course forever,” then I think the majority of people be like, “Okay, it is what it is.” Yeah. Yeah. And we’re going to get into all that in a minute. We’re going to talk about and I want you guys to weigh in, too, to say whether or not you think that the game needs Tiger. We’re going to talk about those ratings. We got a lot to dig into there, but weigh in and say like, do you think the game needs it? I I think where there’s a little bit, we’re tainted towards it a little bit is you got to understand that if you’re around our age, generationally, Tiger means a bit more to a lot of us because he’s a a large part of the reason, if not the reason, why so many of us got into the game. Yeah, you think about that Tiger boom in the ‘9s and things like that that it carries more weight for some of us. And I would say there are probably some younger fans who it doesn’t carry as much weight for who maybe they saw just the tail end of the Tiger square, maybe they saw his dramatic Masters win, you know, his last Masters win, but but it doesn’t have the same weight to them. But just kind of following that train of thought, the looking back and again this is where it’ll kind of going into and proving whether or not um he you know going forward whether the game needs him is just understanding how long it’s really been since he’s played competitively. I just pulled some stats. Interestingly since the start of 2022, Tigers played in only 11 events. He’s withdrawn three times from those events. He’s missed four cuts and he’s only played all four rounds just four times. So, four complete four Sundays is effectively what we’ve gotten out of Tiger since 2022. It’s quite some time. Um, his last real start, I would say, in a real competitive, you know, tournament would be the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Trune. He missed the cut. Uh, he really hasn’t played in any other PGA Tour caliber type of event since 2024. He did play, as you mentioned earlier, in that PNC championship with Charlie. We’re going to talk about more with his future in a second in Charlie and how that motivation serves that. Um, and of course, we all know the TGL events that he participated in. But I I want to get to that regret, that that really important thing of Tigers sharing a regret. And what this comes from recently uh the podcast Dan on golf with Dan Rapenport uh he talked about a conversation that he had with Tiger where he asked kind of very directly because again going back to how hard he trained. It becomes a question mark and and a lot of young golfers want to learn from that to strike the right balance of training to be a champion without pushing it so far that you hurt your longevity. Uh, and in that conversation, this is this is what Dan said. He said, “I remember a conversation that I had with Tiger at one point where I was like, “When you look back on all your injuries, is there one thing that you would tell yourself not to do? One thing you would uh you regret?” And he said, “Yes, I shouldn’t have run so much.” He used to run miles and miles a day, and his knee took a beating. That’s another thing. Uh, that’s another thing that’s a huge issue. So, this is why kind of coming full circle why we talked about all those early injuries, the knees and stuff like that. And I I think there’s there’s interest that that a it’s on Tiger’s mind enough that he has a quick answer to one thing he regrets. I mean, I think that’s a tough thing to answer. Um, but b it also shows that it really didn’t wasn’t anything having to do with his back. you know, he talked about the strain it put on his knees, but yeah, you look at Tiger’s old regimen, it was something like run three miles, play 18, you know, run. Yeah. Run again. And and and that over time can put strain. And even going back when we’re talking about in the mid90s, you didn’t have the same technology even in running shoes at that point. And he could have been, you know, putting doing damage. And that’s just not to say like across the board to write off running for everyone, but it’s just striking that balance that I find so interesting. And think of all those years of Tiger hitting those violent shots, those violent cut shots out of bunkers. And just the the amount of force that guy puts into his lower back and his knees on his swing makes me just kind of I’m convinced that there’s physically no way he’ll ever get back to that. He can’t. Yeah. You know, he’s broken down. And you just think like the running, the just being on his feet, walking, you know, every time you walk a golf course, it’s 5 miles. So, it’s a lot. So, I still got a lot I want to get into here. I want to talk about whether or not this is with all of that buildup, is this yes or no the end for Tiger Woods and what the future holds for him because there is a lot of ways that Tiger can still be very heavily and deeply involved in the game and structuring the the future of the game, you know, without having to play competitively and continue to put his body through that. So, let’s do a quick word from our sponsor. We’ll get right into that. All right, golf season’s still going. Foot Choy got us covered with the latest performance in apparel. They’ve got everything you need for whatever weather conditions you may encounter. So, Thermoseries for the cold, tempo series where it may be a little warmer or a little cool, and of course, the hydro series to keep you nice and dry. In fact, we’re heading to the Outer Banks next week for five rounds of golf. And with all of uh these styles and golf gear that we have from Fjoy, we’re ready for anything. Wind, rain, or sun, whatever’s thrown at us down there at the Outer Banks, we are set thanks to Foots Fjoy. So, why trust your golf gear to anyone else? Trust your game with the latest from Fjoy. Learn more at footjoy.com. All right, so we got to go when we talk about whether or not this is the end. We have to go by the information we have because we’re not getting a whole lot, you know, we’re not getting a timeline from Tiger, but we’ve had him through the years because this has been on loop of these surgeries and stuff. We’ve had him express some of his own personal desires. One of those that I think is important to understand is that Tiger has said many times before that he does not want to be a ceremonial golfer. He doesn’t want to be out there just taking a victory lap and missing cuts and just to be there for the ceremony of it. I will say aside from maybe one thing which a lot of people are talking about this 2027 Open Championship. Put a pin in that. We’ll come right back to it. Um but Tiger also famously said he’s a he’s a he’s a competitor. He’s a deep competitor. He’s famously said that he doesn’t enter a tournament unless he thinks he can win. Now, I I believe that. I believe that’s how he feels. I also believe that he’s entered some tournaments, you know, because of his relationship with the sponsor. I think like the Genesis, of course, right? But I get it as a competitor. He just he’s already painting that picture. He’s not out there to be a ceremonial golfer. He’s, you know, he’s he’s thinking win if he’s going to be out there. and he’s not the type of guy who I I guarantee even at this age and with all those excuses of all of the injuries and surgeries, he doesn’t want to be missing cuts. So, I don’t think he’s driven by that. He also doesn’t need the money obviously. You know, sometimes some guys would are on that champions tour because, you know, it is financed driven in some ways. You know, they’re they’re there to keep, you know, and these guys are the same guys. They weren’t making a ton of money. They don’t have the same purses, you know, back then on the on the PGA tour as they do now. Oh, some of these guys are not billionaires like Tiger, so they need that. But Tiger obviously doesn’t need that. Um, but we do have to talk about that champion store. So, Tiger’s 49. He turns 50 in December. That officially makes him eligible for the PGA Tour Champions. And, um, you know, although he’s never really outwardly expressed an interest in that, you could make the the idea that like if he can get his body health, he still be younger than most of the guys out there. I think that Tiger could be competitive there. You know, it’s not going to be a walk in the park. He’s not just gonna like bowl over these guys. There’s a lot of great golfers there, but he could pick up a couple wins and it could lead to playing into some senior majors. Uh, you know, he could add to his USGA championships total by winning a US senior uh a senior US Open. So, there’s possibility there. But what if he doesn’t? You know, like what if what if Tiger’s missing cuts on the Champions Tour and he’s getting obliterated by 65 year olds and like is that a way to end your career? You know what I mean? I think you think that’s in the back of his mind. Like what if I can’t even compete with Bernard Langanger? Yeah. You know? Yeah. I mean it’s it’s it’s got to be on his mind that he’s at least not going to do any more damage to himself. He’s got to be healthy enough to play. I think a healthy enough Tiger is as good to hang with with almost any of these guys that are out there on the tour right now. I bet the Champions guys would welcome it. I think it would personally without I’m just speaking for me. I mean I think it would increase ratings. It would could increase purses. Could increase purses. I mean you could probably bring in a whole boatload of new sponsors. It I mean it could change the world for the Champion store uh and make it more of a watch and you’re going to see more people our generation tuning into the Champion store events. So I think that would be all great for that tour. But is that exactly how Tiger wants to end as well? and evidence that guys want them out there. Just, you know, about a year ago, Ernie Ell famously said, you know, he was talking about like his conversation with Tiger Woods and he said, “I’ve said, please come and play.” And I think it could only be of beneficial to him. He will get himself in golf shape. You can ride a cart without any shame. And if there’s one guy that should be able to drive a cart, it’s him. And he can get his ass back in shape. So, you ribbed Tiger a little bit there. They’re good friends. But El’s brings up a good point. You know, Tiger could go out there. He could play in the cart. I still think based on his performances in TGL, the number one thing holding Tiger up is the fact of having to walk, you know, four rounds in order to be competitive. So, I think if he had the the the help of a cart, I just think he’s in this weird timeline in his life where he still probably personally feels too young that he doesn’t want that. He’s a competitor. He doesn’t want that extra assistance. Uh he doesn’t want what might feel to him like an asterisk ne next to any win. Um but he’s also as L says like I don’t think any of us would would blame him for it after what he’s been through the surgeries, the car accident. You know, nobody is going to hold it probably against Tiger maybe except for Tiger. So you’ve got all that and then the other indication is like I said many people have been saying that 20 uh 2027 Open Championship St. Andrews, as we’ve heard Tiger say, it’s his favorite golf course. Uh it would be a a spot where, as you guys can all imagine, there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house to see him waving a final farewell to golf on the Swilen Bridge. Um I think it would be a storybook ending to a career that will never be replicated. Uh, so I would not be surprised if it’s on his mind to stay healthy enough to make that his last competitive round of golf because as much as yeah, we want to see him on the PGA Tour Champions, he doesn’t need it. Uh, I could never imagine him being a PGA Tour week PGA Tour Champions week in week out journeyman. Not doing that, not playing in 15 events. It would be a pick and choose based on sponsors or whatever. playing a couple qualify his way into, you know, senior uh majors, maybe playing a few senior majors based on his health. But I think that it could be very correct that that could the 2027 uh open championship could be the last time we see him competitively. Yeah. And what’s interesting about that, I believe the last time at St. Andrews he kind of did that farewell tour, right? He was walking up 18. I think he might have even missed the cut. I might be wrong about that. uh who maybe I think I’m right, but he he walked up, he was waving, and then a lot of the announcers and people were saying that this could be the very last time you see Tiger Woods. Sure. Here at St. Andrews in the major. But on the flip side of that, if there’s anything to give him hope or something to strive for and work hard and get back in shape, maybe that’s it. Yeah. And and look, at the end of the day, like that at that time is us guessing. It wasn’t an official announcement. This will be my last, you know, round. But then we move from there to say like, does golf need Tiger Woods? And as you brought up earlier, um, in a lot of ways, what what what is it that would determine or quantify that need? A lot of us would say like, well, the health of the game could be seen in its its viewership and its ratings. Um, we recently saw a tweet from Josh Carpenter. He said, “Overall, the PGA Tour averaged 2.275 275 million viewers for its Saturday Sunday telecast this season, which is a 22% gain from 2024. That’s showing growth. That’s showing growth there. And what we have is now we have guys like Scotty Sheffller who are able to take over into that dominance, you know, uh, position that Tiger Woods had. I mean, we look at a lot of the records that Scotty’s setting. a lot of them, the ones that he’s he’s matching or coming close to whatever are Tiger’s own records, you know, for by his age, the number of times he’s won and things like that. So, you have Scotty doing that. And on top of that, you still have plenty of future Hall of Famers bringing a lot of attention to the game like Rory Maroy, etc. And the game itself heading in these new directions with new viewership and you see the the emergence of YouTube golf for the younger audience. So, I don’t think that golf hangs in the balance, you know, the the future of golf hangs in the balance quite as much with Tiger, you having to be in there versus out as it did in the past. Um, I agree. And again, we mentioned earlier Tiger, there are ways that he can still have a very big influence over the game. So, if we look and we say if Tiger was to take this as an indication that, you know, playing career is kind of over, where does he settle? Because at 50, he’s still a young man. He still has a lot of years that he can have influence over the game. You look at Jack Nicholas still has a lot of influence over the game now at his age. So, what are we going to be seeing Tiger doing for the next 40 years, right? And there’s a long laundry list. Tiger’s business ventures are are wider reaching than a lot of people think. You’ve got TGL and tomorrow sports and tomorrow even I’ve seen like recently getting into some other avenues besides even golf and other professional sports. He also has he’s got his hand in popstroke and opening those places up. The restaurant business. You’ve got his uh the woods uh in Jupiter and his recent launch of his new clothing line. You know, Sunday Red is something that you’ve seen other guys like the shark Greg Norman with his clothing line, you know. Yeah. Right. True. These are things that can be each one of these could be enough of a a second career, a second life, you know, and he’s got his hand in all of those things. And on top of that, he even has TGR Design, which is his golf course design company like you see with Jack Nicholas. So there’s there’s certainly no shortage of things that a he could do, and he’s doing a lot of those out of passion because he’s a billionaire. He doesn’t need the money. I it’s it’s just proves that Tiger can still be a face of golf, can still have an influence over golf without playing competitively. Um, he’s also expressed a strong desire to be what he calls a sports dad. I can see him starting to pass that torch, assuming that Charlie wants it, which his actions seem to indicate that he does. Charlie seems as involved in the game as, you know, it doesn’t seem like it’s something that he’s pushed into or feels obligated to. He seems like a genuine love for the game. And I could see Tiger really spending some time supporting that in every possible way. I think Tiger’s motivation is to get healthy is these PNC championships just to give, you know, a chance to to win with his son. I think that would be mean a lot to him. But even if he can’t play, supporting him, being on the bag for junior events, I think these are the types of things that fire Tiger up now. Yeah, I agree. And even one more piece on that PNC. I mean, think about it. Like, this is your your big opportunity to put your son on on a on a main stage. And unfortunately, he might not be able to do that this time around. So, that’s got to be weighing on him, you know, that’s got to be hurting Tiger a little bit that Charlie won’t be, you know, seen in that light, you know, on television that, you know, everyone tuning in to see him. So, yeah, man. You’re right. He’s he’s got a lot going on for him. I know he’s going to he’s a busy guy and he’s going to continue that way. He’s going to be in the game of golf forever no matter what. Yeah. And we’ll be waiting to see if he does make any announcement on that PNC, but based on this surgery, I can’t imagine that timeline that he’d be ready to go in just like six, seven weeks or when that comes around. But you guys let us know in the comments. Do you think is this it? Was this surgery the final straw? Uh do you feel like this is the end competitively for Tiger Woods? And if so, what’s your own take? Is it something that will move the needle as once Tiger was the needle? Would it move the needle now to say he is done playing competitively? I’d love to hear what you guys think. Drop them in the comments below. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast and we’ll see you in the next

Tiger Woods’ latest surgery has fans asking if we’ve finally reached the end of an era—and his own words might confirm it.

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In this week’s episode of The Golf Podcast, we ask the question every golf fan is wondering — is this finally the end for Tiger Woods? After undergoing yet another back surgery to replace a collapsed disc, Tiger’s future in competitive golf looks more uncertain than ever. At 49 years old and approaching eligibility for the PGA Tour Champions, Tiger has opened up about his biggest regret from years of relentless training and physical strain — running too much early in his career, which he now believes contributed to many of his knee and back problems. In this episode, we’re breaking down Tiger’s long injury timeline, his cryptic comments about returning to golf, and what this latest setback could mean for his career. Could his next chapter be as a mentor, designer, or even a full-time dad to Charlie Woods? And more importantly, does professional golf still need Tiger to thrive? We explore how stars like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have carried the torch, the rise of new golf ventures like TGL and Tomorrow Sports, and whether the game has finally moved beyond its Tiger era.

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