Surgery looks like a setback too far for Woods
IS this the end of the road for Tiger Woods?
It is hardly surprising the question is being asked after the most turbulent year of his professional career ended on Friday night with the shocking news he has undergone a second major back operation in successive years.
The best-case scenario is he will return to competitive action in the early part of next year, by which time he will be 40 years old and ranked outside the world’s top 400.
If that is the best, it is only natural for people to wonder what will happen if all does not go to plan, as things tend not to with golfers and chronic back injuries, and whether this is it for the 14-time major champion.
Woods had gone in for a check-up following the microdiscectomy operation he had early last year.
The last thing he expected was to be told he would need to undergo a similar procedure, after experiencing discomfort in his back and hip.
The operation was done on Wednesday by the same surgeon in Utah.
‘This is unfortunate but these things happen,’ said Woods, on his website. ‘I’ve been injured before and played again. It won’t be any different this time.’
It is true Woods has played since the last back operation, but his golf has been unrecognisable.
At The Open at St Andrews he confessed he had rushed his comeback, returning to the game after just three months, and admitted it had taken a full year until he felt comfortable.
Now he has to go through it all again.
This year began with him battling a case of the shortgame yips, continued with him missing the halfway cut in consecutive majors for the first time during the summer and ended with him failing to make the top 125 who contest the FedEx Cup.
He did have a number of tournaments lined up for the end of this year but those appearances, of course, have now gone by the wayside.
‘This is certainly disappointing but I’m a fighter,’ said Woods.
‘I’ve been told I can make a full recovery and I have no doubt that I will.’
A full recovery to live a normal life, hopefully, but enough to get back to endless hours of practice necessary to compete?
As he says, he is a fighter, the greatest the game has known. But even that might not be enough this time.
At the top, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are now so far ahead they are out of sight.
Day and McIlroy have found the secret of hitting the ball 350 yards off the tee and finding the majority of fairways.
Woods could not do that in his prime, never mind after another lengthy lay-off.
Is this it, then? It’s only natural to wish Tiger all the best but, saddled with a body that after all the punishment over the years plainly can no longer cope, you do fear the worst for him.