Woods' recovery from surgery slower than expected, no timeline for return

Tiger Woods said on Tuesday his recovery from the disc replacement surgery he had in October was not going as fast as he would like and that he was still "a ways away" from figuring out a playing schedule.

The first question for Woods during his media availability ahead of this week's Hero World Challenge that he hosts in Albany, Bahamas, was about the state of his rehabilitation following the latest setback in a string of injuries that have stalled his return to the PGA Tour.

"It's not as fast as I would like it to be," said Woods, who has not competed since missing the British Open cut in July 2024. "It was a good thing to do, something I needed to have happen and it just takes time and dedication to the rehab process."

The 15-times major champion, who also had surgery in March to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon, said he got clearance last week to resume chipping and putting for the first time since undergoing the lumbar disc replacement surgery.

"You can't really do much on a disc replacement, you have to let it set," said Woods. "We got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, I've started strengthening and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven't been able to do and just letting the disc set."

Woods turns 50 on December 30 and will be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions in 2026 but he was not yet ready to say when, or if, he will compete on the senior circuit.

"I am just looking forward to, let me get back to playing again. Let me do that and then I will kind of figure out what the schedule is going to be," said Woods.

"I am a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision and that type of commitment level.

"Unfortunately I have been through this rehab process before, it is just step-by-step, and once I get a feel for practising, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I am going to play and how much I'll play."

Woods, who was supposed to make his TGL Season 2 debut in January, also said he hopes to still compete next year in the indoor golf league he co-founded with Rory McIlroy, but not until closer to the end of the season.