Woods warned not to rush his return
Delaet says he was out for 12 months after similar back surgery
HOUSTON — If Tiger Woods hopes to return in time for the British Open in July or, indeed, the Ryder Cup in September, then he is likely to be disappointed. That is the message from fellow professional Graham DeLaet, who went through the same back operation as Woods and was sidelined for 12 months.
Woods announced on Tuesday that he would miss next week’s Masters after having surgery on Monday, but an official statement on his website expressed the view that he could be chipping and putting in three weeks and playing soon afterwards.
Notah Begay, Woods’s great friend, revealed that he had spoken to his former college roommate since the procedure and that the Memorial on May 29, two weeks before the U.S. Open, was the target.
But to DeLaet, the native of Weyburn, Sask. ranked 30th in the world, a return date just eight weeks away seemed “optimistic,” even though he was keen to stress that “everyone responds differently.”
DeLaet had a microdiscectomy, which is typically performed because of a herniated disc and involves a small portion of the bone over the nerve root being removed, in January 2011 and his own website’s statement at the time was similar to that of Woods in its positive tone.
“We were optimistic that I would be back in three or four months, but it took much longer,” DeLaet said during a practice session for the Houston Open on Wednesday.
“It took me basically a year to really feel comfortable to really attack the ball, especially from deep lies in the rough where I really had to go at it.
“I was in a pretty rough shape beforehand. I don’t know what kind of shape Tiger was in, obviously not very good if he ended up with the surgery. I was hitting balls on the range after four months and tried to come back after six months. But I then played for two weeks and knew I was not ready and shut down for another six months.”
DeLaet was nine years younger than the 38-year-old Woods when he went under the knife.
“There’s no question that the younger you are, the faster you’ll be able to recover,” he said.
“I’m sure Tiger has a good support system. That’s the main thing. I feel for him because I’ve been through the same thing and I hope he listens to his body. When your body’s saying ‘no’ you should shut it down.”
He also suggested that the problems Woods might face in his rehabilitation could be more than just physical. “You have to mentally get over the operation,” he said. “Even if you’re feeling good physically there are times when you doubt your back, when you’re trying to hammer a tee-shot, say. It’s in the back of your mind you don’t want to screw things up again.” Even now, DeLaet experiences pain. “I don’t think I’ll ever be 100 per cent,” he said.