Tiger Woods' painful health history explained: from traumatic car crash to career-defining surgeries

Tiger Woods has had a rollercoaster journey with his health, and the several injuries that have plagued him the past several years.

This week, the pro-golfer had to pull out of the famed Masters Tournament slated for April 10, over an injury and subsequent surgery to treat it, and not for the first time in his career.

The surgery, for a ruptured Achilles tendon, puts into question whether he will be able to participate in any other championships for the rest of the year, at a time when the renowned athlete, who will turn 50 later this year, is already facing questions about his retirement.

Though it's unclear how lengthy his recovery will be, Tiger did share in a statement: "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. 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."

Catch up on Tiger's recent health history below.

The ruptured Achilles

Tiger's doctor Dr. Stucken has since shared of the surgery: "The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery."

Tiger further shared in his statement: "I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support."

Per the Associated Press, most recoveries take at least a month before someone can even put weight on their foot, and fellow Masters champion Bernhard Langer had a tear in his Achilles tendon last year that kept him out for three months.

Previous surgeries

Last September, Tiger had a sixth surgery on his back, a microdecompression of the lumbar spine, also referred to as a microdiscectomy, to address nerve impingement and alleviate back spasms and pain that he had been experiencing for much of the 2024 season.

Back in April 2023, he also had to pull out of the Masters once they had already started, and subsequently underwent a surgery on his ankle to address post-traumatic arthritis as a result of his car crash in February 2021 in Los Angeles that left him with severe leg injuries and influenced his decision to retire from playing golf full time.

"I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis. Thank you to the fans and to @TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!" he said at the time.

Tiger's car crash injuries

In 2021, Tiger was involved in a one-car crash, in which his car rolled several times and left him trapped in it.

He was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center by ambulance, and Dr. Anish Mahajan subsequently said in a statement that he suffered "significant orthopedic injuries to his right lower extremity" and had emergency surgery for "open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portion of the tibia and fibula bones."