News

Tiger Woods' Return To Golf In December 2014? 'I'm Right on that Timeline' - News Update

It has been more two months since Tiger Woods last played in the last competitive round at the PGA Championship and decided to take a rest to let his back heal. Now he is back to hitting full shots on the range again, presumably preparing to come back to the sport in just a few months.

The golf superstar had surgery on his back on March 31. Woods returned to compete in June, but only played four events before he felt his back issues returning and was sidelined once again. 

He withdrew in the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and missed the cut at the PGA Championship later, forcing him to play his last round on Aug. 8.

At one point it was thought that Woods would be a possible at-large pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but he also withdrew himself from the consideration for this event. His return to action will be at his annual fundraising event for the Tiger Woods Foundation, the Hero World Challenge on Dec. 4-7.

That event will mark Woods's official return to competition. It features an 18-player field and will take place at Isleworth in Orlando, Florida. With Woods now hitting full shots as of last week, he appears ready for to compete, barring any major setbacks that he may have.

Woods said that he was on track to play at the event at a media promotions event on Sept. 15. "The design was to start making golf swings either late September or early October, then if I started early October, I'd have two full months to play the Hero World Challenge," Woods said, per ESPN. "I'm right on that timeline so that's perfect."

After his back surgery in March, Woods returned to competition quickly. The operation was to alleviate a pinched nerve, but he still competed in the Quicken Loans National event in June, a tournament that his foundation also benefits. He missed the cut and did not play again until the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool three weeks later. Here he finished a career worst performance at 69th place.

His back pains would then force him to withdraw from the WGC-Bridgstone. After a tee shot at the ninth hole of the final round, Woods decided to stop, saying that the pain was unrelated to the surgery. According to Woods, he jarred his back after falling into a fairway bunker early in the round.

Woods only played in eight tournaments worldwide this year. His best finish came in the WGC-Cadilac Championship at Doral- where he also shut it down for the first time- in a tie for 25th.

Woods began the year ranked as No. 1 in the world, but quickly fell to 17th because of his poor performance and lack of play-time.

Woods is no stranger to playing with injury as he was ranked 58th in 2011 after another lengthy time spent rehabilitating after a major setback.


Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics