The shock over Tiger Woods’ latest back surgery has not left the golf world. And no wonder. The news came just as fans were fantasizing about Woods’ imminent return, as he appeared to have recovered from his Achilles tendon injury last March.
This new health setback for the 15-time major champion has sparked intense debate in the golf world. One of the most far-reaching questions revolves around why Woods has been injured so many times in his career.
The injuries have certainly been omnipresent throughout most of Woods’ professional golf career. He just underwent his seventh back surgery alone.
Naturally, there are multiple causes for this phenomenon. However, golf insider Dan Rapaport recently revealed that Woods himself identifies a detail from his past as one of the main causes.
“I remember a conversation that I had with Tiger (Woods) at one point,” Rapaport said in a recent episode of his Dan on Golf podcast, “where I was like, ‘When you look back on all your injuries, is there one thing that you would tell yourself not to do, one thing you regret’, and he said, ‘Yes, I shouldn’t have run so much’. He used to run miles and miles a day, and his knee took a beating.”
Woods has been unable to play during the current season, apart from a few TGL matches at the beginning of the year. His last competitive appearance on a golf course was at the 2024 PNC Championship, where he finished second, teaming up with his son Charlie.
His last official tournament was the 2024 Open Championship, where he missed the cut.
This is undoubtedly an issue that Woods has thought about at length. In 2016, almost 10 years ago, he was already answering questions on this topic. At that time, he said he regretted not continuing his college golf career for an additional year.
“If you look back, the only regret I have in life is not staying another year at Stanford,” he said during an interview with “CBS Morning.”
“I wish I would have done. I’ve learned that all the things I’ve been through are tough, yes, they’ve been tough, but they’ve been great for me, but I wish I would have gone one more year at Stanford.”
Videos posted on social media showed Woods swinging golf clubs in early September at the Nexus Cup. This sparked excitement among fans, who were hopeful that he would make a comeback during one of the unofficial tournaments at the end of the year.
Unfortunately, we will have to keep waiting.
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