(Reuters) – Tiger Woods still has the passion to compete and is working to get his body back in shape for next year, he said on Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge in Albany, Bahamas, after another injury curtailed his 2024 season.
Woods has not played since July and he underwent surgery for nerve impingement on his lower back in September, an injury that he said took him by surprise and caused him tremendous pain.
He was widely expected to take one of three exemption spots for the tournament he has hosted since 2000, an unofficial event that features 20 of the world’s top players, but said late last month that he would not compete.
“This year was kind of – I had to toss it away and I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be and I didn’t play as much as I needed to going into the major championships and I didn’t play well at them,” said Woods, who missed the cut at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
He withdrew from February’s Genesis Invitational after the first round due to illness and in April finished 60th at the Masters, where he claimed his 15th major title five years ago.
“Hopefully next year will be better, I’ll be physically stronger and better. I know the procedure helped and hopefully that I can then build upon that,” he told reporters.
Woods has kept a limited competitive schedule for years due to several injuries and said he was working to give himself the best chance possible to compete next year.
“The fire still burns to compete,” he said. “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, I can’t, for some reason the body just won’t recover like it used to.
“That’s part of age and part of an athlete’s journey.”
The 48-year-old American weighed in on a handful of key issues in a wide-ranging press conference, including talks between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV tour to unify the game that have stalled for months.
“This is an active negotiation and things are happening daily, weekly and it’s evolving,” said Woods.
“Some eggs are going to be knocked over and it’s going to be a little bit difficult at times, but in the end we’re going to get a product that’s better for all the fans and all the players that are involved and get some peace that the game desperately needs.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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