A History Of Tiger Woods Injuries

Apr 04, 2019

Tiger Woods' 22-year professional career has been hampered by multiple injuries over the years. By Lewis Blain

A History Of Tiger Woods Injuries

We look at the injuries that have blighted Woods’ 22-year professional career.

December 1994:

Woods has just completed, potentially, one of the biggest comeback victories in US Amateur Golf history but aged just 18 has surgery to remove a benign tumor from his left knee.

December 2002:

PGA Player of the Year for a fifth time as Woods wins the Masters and the US Open in the same year. The 26-year-old would have a cyst removed from his left knee and fluid drained from around one of his ligaments. He came back and won the Buick Invitational.

Hootie Johnson Presents The Green Jacket To Tiger Woods At The Presentation Ceremony Of The 2002 Masters Tournament. (Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images)

September 2006:

It is one of Tiger’s standout years as he wins eight times on the PGA Tour, wins both The Open and the USPGA and records 10 top-5 finishes in just 15 starts. After five consecutive starts throughout summer, he injures a muscle in his left shoulder blade – he fights through the pain to win the WGC-American Express, carding a score of 23-under.

July 2007:

The 31-year-old ruptures his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee soon after The Open. He opts against surgery and goes on to win five of the next six competitions.

April 2008:

The world number one underwent arthroscopic knee surgery following a second-place finish at The Masters. After six weeks off, Woods returned at the US Open and won. It would be his last major win to date.

Woods winces from pain due to his knee injury as he hits a tee shot during the final round of the 2008 US Open. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

June 2008:

A week after winning the US Open his season was cut short with reconstructive surgery on that damaged ACL. He also has a stress fracture in his left tibia.

December 2008 and throughout 2009:

Woods revealed at the 2010 Masters that he had torn his right Achilles tendon late in 2008, but the problem had resurfaced multiple times during the next year.

May 2010:

Still holding the world number one title, Woods withdraws from the Players Championship during the final round. A later MRI scan showed that he had an inflamed facet joint in his neck.

Woods retires from the 2010 Players Championship. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

April 2011:

Despite suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain to his left knee and a strain to his left Achilles tendon on the 17th hole at Augusta, Woods goes on to finish for a tie for fourth at The Masters.

May 2011:

The 35-year-old shoots a 42 on the front nine at TPC Sawgrass and withdraws citing problems with his knee, Achilles and calf. Woods would then miss the next three months.

March 2012:

More left Achilles problems for the former world number one as he withdraws from the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Tiger Woods falls to the ground in pain after hitting his second shot on the 13th hole during the final round of The Barclays in 2013.
(Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/Getty Images)

March 2014:

The first signs of back troubles for Tiger as he withdraws from the Honda Classic.

Later in the month he misses the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but remains 1st in the Official World Golf Ranking.

April 2014:

Woods announces that he will miss the Masters after undergoing a microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve in his back. He returns to the Quicken Loans National but fails to make the cut.

September 2015:

The 14-time major champion flops in three of the four majors by missing the cut. He did finish well at the WGC-Bridgestone and the USPGA before undergoing a second microdiscectomy surgery.

Related: What Is In Tiger Woods’ Bag?

October 2015:

Woods returns to the same neurosurgeon that performed his previous two surgeries to undergo a follow-up operation to relieve discomfort.

February 2017:

Woods leaves Emirates GC after withdrawing before his second round of the 2017 Dubai Desert Classic. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

The 79-time PGA Tour winner skips the entire 2016 season to recover from surgery.

Woods finishes 15th in an 18-man field at the Hero World Challenge before missing the cut at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open.

He withdrew from the second round of the Dubai Desert Classic, citing back spasms.

April 2017:

The 42-year-old has lower right back fusion surgery. He says on his website “I’m optimistic this will relieve my back spasms and pain. When healed, I look forward to getting back to a normal life, playing with my kids, competing in professional golf and living without the pain I have been battling for so long.”

The fist pump is back. Woods during the third round at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
(Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR)

January 2018:

A month after playing in his 18-man Hero World Challenge tournament, Tiger Woods makes his long awaited return to full-field PGA Tour events at the Farmers Insurance Open. He ties for 23rd with a score of three-under.

March 2018:

A T2 at the Valspar Championship and a T5 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational moves Woods into the joint-favourite with bookmakers to win the Masters. He looks completely clear of any previous injury.

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