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Woods unable to twist for three months
Ex-world No. 1 had fourth back surgery in April
'Unequivocally' wants to return to pro golf
He “unequivocally” wants to play professional golf again but Tiger Woods can’t even twist for another three months, let alone play the sport.
The former world No. 1 is recovering from a fourth back operation and has not played since his long-term injury issues forced him to pull out of the Dubai Desert Classic in February.
Woods, 41, was three events into his much-anticipated comeback following 15 months out after multiple back operations, and was forced to miss the Masters before undergoing fusion surgery in Texas in late April.
“I could no longer live with the pain I had,” Woods wrote on his blog. “Even lying down hurt. I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope.”
‘Short-term goals’
The 14-time major champion has no timescale on his return but says the long-term prognosis is “positive.”
“It is hard to express how much better I feel,” he wrote. “It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years.
“It’s just a matter of not screwing up and letting it fuse. I’m walking and doing my exercises, and taking my kids to and from school. All I can do is take it day by day. There’s no hurry.
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“But, I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again.
“Presently, I’m not looking ahead. I can’t twist for another two-and-a-half to three months. Right now, my sole focus is rehab and doing what the doctors tell me. I am concentrating on short-term goals.”
Woods told CNN’s Living Golf in Dubai he feared he would never play golf again during “dark times” as he recovered from his multiple back surgeries in late 2015.
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The American won the last of his 79 PGA Tour events in 2013 and clinched his last major in 2008.
