'The body just won't recover like it used to': Tiger Woods' future in golf looks grim

Tiger Woods shed light on whether or not he will continue his golfing career, explaining that his body isn't healing the way he hoped it would.

During a press conference in the Bahamas, Woods said he had a "long way to go" before he was "able to compete" against PGA Tour opponents.

Woods said last year he wanted to compete once per month in 2024 but played just five times this season and even withdrew from a tournament due to illness. He only made one cut in those five competitions; placing 60th at the Masters.

'That's part of age and part of the athlete's journey.'

While hosting the Hero World Challenge, Woods spoke to reporters for about 30 minutes on his injuries and intent to play moving forward.

"I'm not tournament-sharp yet. I'm still not there," Woods said regarding competing in the challenge; he finished 18 out of 20 in the tournament in 2023.

"These are 20 of the best players in the world, and I'm not sharp enough to compete against them at this level. When I'm ready to compete and play at this level, then I will."

Expressing his desire to continue golfing, Woods said "the fire still burns to compete."

"The difference is, the recovery of the body to do it is not what it used to be," he added.

"I still love doing it, I love competing, I love competing at anything whether it's we're playing cards or we're playing golf, and no matter what it is I love competing. That's never going to leave but, as far as the recovery process of going out there and doing it again and again and again and doing it consistently at a high level, for some reason the body just won't recover like it used to," Woods said with a shoulder shrug.

"That's part of age and part of the athlete's journey."

In mid-September, Woods went under the knife for what was believed to be his sixth back surgery, ESPN reported, an injury that also caused pain down right his leg. The pain became even worse as the 2024 season went on.

Woods has also had multiple surgeries to repair damage in his right foot and leg he suffered from a car accident in February 2021.

The 49-year-old said he didn't expect his back to go out again this year, but it was "quite painful" throughout the end of the season, which led to another procedure to alleviate the pain in his leg.

As for his future commitments, Wood said he could make new promises all over again but truly didn't know when he would recover.

"I'm just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better and really give myself the best chance I can going to next year."

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