Tiger Woods: Five Questions To Ask

The announcement that Tiger Woods underwent surgery on his back earlier this week gave us the answer to at least one question: he won’t play in this year’s Masters.

At the same time, however, it also brought a whole new raft of brain-teasers, conundrums, and head-scratchers to the fore, such as these five. 

1. How did this latest injury happen?

Tracing the issue back to the Honda Classic, Tiger Woods started having back spasms warming up on the range ahead of the final round at PGA National. However, there is something fast approaching a consensus that Tiger’s off-season work – which it is accepted involves less practice and more physical training – is taking its toll on his increasingly brittle body.

When the (not for much longer) world No.1 made his 2014 debut at the Farmers Insurance Open, he looked noticeably bigger around the arms and shoulders, which suggested he’d been lifting big weights in the gym.

After Woods missed the cut in his season-opener, former coach Hank Haney was asked about his former pupil’s work-out ethic, and said: “My opinion is he overdoes that.” He went on to hint that Woods’ gym obsession stemmed from wanting more strength to better escape thick rough – a by-product of missing too fairways, some might say.

Whether or not Tiger’s gym regime is so punishing that it’s weakening him as much as it’s strengthening him is, of course, conjecture. But have a look at the two pictures below. They were taken less then three months apart. Looks like a lot of difference in body mass and shape in such a short space of time.

November 2013

January 2014

2. When will he make his comeback?

The prognosis appears to be ‘several weeks’ of ‘rest and rehabilitation’. Based on that, you would assume that the very earliest Woods will play will be the Players Championship at the start of May, where he is the defending champion.

But hold on a second. Whilst he might have won there last year, Woods’ overall record at TPC Sawgrass is very poor. Would he want to make his return to golf – with all eyes on him – at a course where his record is less than impressive?

My hunch is that the next time we’ll see Tiger Woods will be the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village at the end of May. He’s a five-time winner of that event (most recently in 2012) and, typically, uses it as last tune-up for the US Open. 

3. Will he play in the Ryder Cup?

He has a chance but it’s an ever-narrowing one.

A quick glance at the American Ryder Cup standings shows him sitting in 44th place. There are 34 players currently between him and one of the nine automatic spots on Tom Watson’s team. He is so far from qualifying for the team, it’s staggering. The longer he spends on the sidelines, the more time the players above him have to increase their advantage over him – and the more time players below him have to overtake him.

Does US captain Tom Watson then use one of his three wildcards on him, if necessary? He has suggested that he will but, even then, I wouldn’t count on it. Watson has been vocal in his criticism of Tiger’s behaviour – on and off the course – over the past few years.

Add Woods’ poor Ryder Cup record (and his, presumably, poor final position on the qualification standings) into the equation, and it would be hard for Watson to justify picking him.

4. Can he still break Jack Nicklaus’ record?

It’s not looking good, is it?

Bear in mind, to overtake Jack, Tiger needs five more wins. That’s as many major victories as Seve Ballesteros managed in his entire career.

Publicly, Tiger maintains that he’s still optimistic on his chances but, privately, you have to assume he is starting to have his doubts. Besides anything else, he hasn’t really come close to winning a major over the last five years. Sure, he’s finished top five in five of the 14 majors he’s played since his sex scandal but ask yourself this: how many times did he look like actually closing the deal?

Remember: since the 2011 Masters, he hasn’t broken 70 on the weekend of any major and is mired in the longest major drought of his career.

If he’s going to break any record, it’s looks like it’ll be Sam Snead’s haul of PGA Tour victories, a mark he’s three short of tying.

5. Does this injury accelerate his retirement?

Dismiss this question as sensationalistic if you like but, presented with the facts, it’s hard not to wonder. As noted, Tiger Woods’ 38-year-old body has undergone a huge amount of physical stress over the past few years, racking up a catalogue of injuries and procedures.

Just as equally, the emotional and mental toll that he will have experienced must have left some scars, too.

It is generally accepted that Tiger won’t rest until he’s broken every record in the game. But the pursuit of those goals will always be tempered by realism. When he comes to the conclusion that some of them are out of reach, what will be Tiger’s motivation to play? Will he want to risk his long-term health and physical capabilities chasing down unlikely goals? Time will tell.

Here’s hoping he makes a speedy and full recovery as, think what you like about him, golf is still more exciting when he plays.

Tiger Woods: Your thoughts?

What’s your take on any of these questions about Tiger Woods? Leave your thoughts in our ‘Comments’ section below.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor