Tiger Woods revealed Tuesday that his recovery from his latest back surgery is taking longer than he had hoped, and he said it’s too early to set a target date for returning to competitive golf.

The 15-time major champion, who will turn 50 later this month, underwent disc replacement surgery in October. This marks the latest in a series of operations and injuries that have kept him off the course since the 2024 British Open.

Speaking at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Woods said he had recently been cleared to practice chipping and putting but had no timeline for his next tournament appearance.

“It’s not as fast as I’d like it to be,” Woods said when asked about his recovery, noting this was the seventh operation on his back. “It was a good thing to do, something I needed to have happen, and it just takes time and dedication to the rehab process.”

When asked about his potential 2026 schedule, Woods said he was still far from making those decisions.

“I’m just looking forward to getting back to playing again,” he said. “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.”

Woods has faced multiple setbacks over the past few years. He suffered severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash but returned at the 2022 Masters, finishing 47th. After a back operation in September 2024, he was rehabbing when he also endured a ruptured Achilles tendon earlier this year.

Despite the challenges, Woods remains cautiously optimistic. “I just got cleared last week to chip and putt, so it’s good,” he said. “It’s been slow. Not able to do much on a disc replacement to let it set. Now we’ve got the OK to start cranking up a little in the gym, strengthening and doing more rotational work. Just letting the disc settle.”

When asked about a potential return at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles in February, Woods said: “I don’t know… A disc replacement takes time. It’s longer—not as long as a fusion, thank God—but it’s going to take time.”

He remains determined to return to the game he loves. “I’d like to come back to just playing golf again,” Woods said. “I haven’t played in a long time. It’s been a tough year. A lot has happened on and off the course. My passion is to just play.”