NASSAU, Bahamas — NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods joked that he planned to play 25 tournaments on both the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions next year.

“I think that should cover most of the year, right?” he deadpanned.

Then he smiled and laughter ensued. The reality, he said, is it's premature to put a timeline on his return as he mounts his latest comeback from back surgery six weeks ago.

“Not as fast as I’d like it to be,” he said on Tuesday ahead of the PGA Tour’s Hero World Challenge at Albany Club, where he serves as tournament host, when asked about the progress he is making.

Woods said his back was feeling "wonky," and a MRI revealed that he needed what amounts to his seventh procedure on his back. He was cleared by his doctor to begin chipping and putting last week and he is beginning to ramp up work in the gym, but it's too soon for the 82-time Tour winner to target a return.

"A disc replacement takes time," he said. "It's not as long as a fusion, thank God, but it's going to take time."

Woods hasn’t played in the Hero World Challenge since 2023, and hasn’t competed on the Tour at all since the 2024 British Open, where he missed the cut, other than in TGL, the screen-golf start-up league he's an investor in. He was planning to play in the Genesis Championship, the other Tour event that he serves as host, in February, but his mother, Kultida, died, shortly before it and he announced he wasn’t ready to compete. Then in March, he ruptured his left Achilles tendon while ramping up training and practice at home.

“It’s been a tough year,” he said.

He noted he wouldn’t be able to compete with son Charlie in the PNC Championship later this month, a two-person team event that has become a personal favorite for him and in which Team Woods lost in a playoff last year.

Woods called the surgery, “a good thing to do, something that needed to happen.” Kiran Kanwar, an LPGA master instructor, expressed concern that Tiger’s dedication to the rehabilitation process can only do so much.

“If he’s going to compete again, will it be Groundhog Day with the swing that may not have caused the problem but certainly helped exacerbate his issues,” she said in a text message. “After certain vertebrae have been fused, the next discs up can get injured so he at least needs to understand which of his movements are causing the pain/injury and what he can do to reduce stress on his lower back.”

Worlds also confirmed he wouldn’t be able to play in the initial TGL matches for his team, Jupiter Links, but would attend all the matches and hoped to be able to play later in the season in the screen-golf league, which begins in late December and runs through March.

"I just started chipping and putting. I've got to hit more shots than just chip and putt in TGL. There's a few drives I might have to hit," he said.

Woods celebrates his 50th birthday on Dec. 30, and will become eligible for PGA Tour Champions. He declined to commit to how much he would play on the senior circuit, where the use of a cart and only 54 holes at most events have been cited as reasons he might play more there than on the PGA Tour.

"Once I get a feel for practicing, exploding, playing, the recovery process, then I can assess where I'm going to play and how much I'll play," he said. "I'm a ways away from that part of it and that type of decision, that type of commitment level."

In the past, when Woods was asked why he wanted to attempt another comeback, he usually has been quick to say that he still thought he could win. This time he was much more subdued.

"Come back to what point? I'd like to come back to just playing golf again. I haven't played golf in a long time," he said.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tiger Woods gives update on injuries, return and future plans to play

Reporting by Adam Schupak, Golfweek / Golfweek

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