PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — If Tiger Woods’ career as a competitor on the PGA Tour wasn’t already virtually over before Tuesday, it’s difficult to believe that it isn’t now.
The 15-time major champion announced on Tuesday that he underwent surgery after rupturing his left Achilles tendon while training at home.
Woods, 49, hasn’t played a tournament since last July in the 2024 British Open, at which he missed the cut, but was believed to be gearing himself up to play in next month’s Masters.
Tiger Woods plays a shot during a TGL match on March 4, 2025. TGL via Getty ImagesWoods, who’s won the Masters five times, last won in 2019, which was his last win of any sort on the PGA Tour.
“As I began to ramp up my own training and practice at home, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles, which was deemed to be ruptured,” Woods said in a statement posted on social media. “This morning, Dr. Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida performed a minimally-invasive Achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon.’’
Woods said he was back at home in Jupiter, Fla., and plans to “focus on my recovery and rehab.” He did not announce a timeline for his return to competition, but Achilles tendon tears can often take up to a year or more to heal completely.
That would leave Woods, who turns 50 on Dec. 30, at an age when he’ll be eligible to play on the Champions Tour.
It’s been a difficult month for Woods, whose mother Kultida Woods died on Feb. 4. He had entered the field for the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, but withdrew, saying he wasn’t ready to compete after her passing.
Tiger Woods speaks at the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16, 2025. Getty ImagesEven his TGL team was one of the two in the indoor league that failed to qualify for the playoffs. Woods competed in four TGL matches this season, including Jupiter Links’ 9-1 loss to Atlanta Drive GC in the regular-season finale last week.
This physical setback is one of many in his career, the last of which took place in September 2024, when he underwent microdecompression surgery of his lumbar spine to alleviate nerve impingement in his lower back.
Tiger Woods hits a bunker shot at the British Open on July 19, 2024. R&A via Getty ImagesIt was believed to be the sixth surgery on his lower back in the past 10 years. He also has endured knee problems, which have required surgeries.
