Tiger Woods indicated in an interview with Jim Nantz, CBS, on Sunday that he did not train much in the aftermath of a fifth back operation in December and that he would not ensure that he would be part of the final round within seven weeks. of the Masters.
“I have to get there first,” said Woods, 45, who was at Riviera Country Club hosting the Genesis invitation.
“I looked at my putter,” he said, giving no timetable for his return in the coming weeks.
“I do not know what the plan is,” he said. “The plan now is to get through tomorrow and start making progress.”
Woods had a microdiscectomy on Dec. 23, a procedure to relieve nerve pain in his lower back. He had the same procedure three times, once in 2014 and twice in 2015. He then had a much more serious spinal fusion in April 2017, from which he returned less than a year later.
Woods has since won three times to win his PGA Tour to 82, drawing Sam Snead. He also won his 15th major title when he won the 2019 Masters.
But Woods never got anything going last year, and he only reached a top-10 final, a tie for the ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open in January 2020.
He missed the track at the US Open and tied for 38th place at the Masters, the last official event.
He had his last procedure three days after taking part in the PNC Championship with his son Charlie in December.
“I feel good, a little tight,” Woods said. “I have another MRI scheduled, and then I can start doing more activities. I’m still in the gym doing rehabilitation activities before I go to more.”
Woods did not want to play a tournament before the Masters, and when asked specifically about the year’s first major championship, he said, “God, I hope so. But I have to get there first. I did not wrap much. “I have only one left.”
The repair of the procedure, which was presumably one level higher on the spine where his previous one took place, was expected to take two and a half to three months. He is said to hit balls a few weeks later, but Woods’ words indicated he did not do the necessary exercises to return.
The potential places for him to come back are the Arnold Palmer invitation in two weeks, followed by the Players Championship and the Honda Classic. The Honda is followed by the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, a tournament he will be eligible for if he stays among the top 64 in the world. He fell to 51st on Sunday.
The match plays two weeks before the Masters.