Golf
Bob Harig, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Mark Steinberg says Tiger Woods still rehabbing after back surgery

Golf

Tiger Woods's agent Mark Steinberg felt compelled Monday to deny a couple of social media posts that led to stories suggesting the golfer has had a setback in his rehabilitation from his latest back surgery.

An anonymous Twitter account with the handle Secret Tour Pro and longtime golf writer Robert Lusetich, formerly of Fox Sports, both tweeted in the past few days suggesting that Woods has had difficulty sitting for long periods and that his back condition had worsened.

Lusetich also went on "The Dan Patrick Show" to discuss the situation.

Neither divulged sources or said if the reports were linked to anyone close to Woods.

"The tweets that appeared this weekend about Tiger's health are ridiculous and absolutely false,'' Steinberg said in a statement Monday. "It's reprehensible that every few months someone makes something up and it's treated like a real story. Tiger continues to work on his rehabilitation and we will have an accurate update at the appropriate time.''

On Friday, Steinberg told ESPN that he had no update on Woods' status, echoing similar comments he made last month at the Farmers Insurance Open. There has been no official update on Woods' status since the golfer himself said in early December that he had yet to begin rehabilitation.

Woods has not played since last August's Wyndham Championship, where he tied for 10th. Since then, he has twice had surgery on his lower back, the latest coming on Oct. 28.

Neither Woods nor Steinberg has said what the October surgery entailed. The previous two back surgeries -- the first occurred on March 31, 2014, the other on Sept. 16, 2015 -- were each called a microdiscectomy. It is unclear if the October surgery was more serious, although Woods appeared to be in some discomfort six months later when he hosted the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

"There is no timetable for this and that's been the hardest mindset adjustment, is that I don't know,'' Woods said on Dec. 1. "So where is the light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know, so that's been hard.''

Woods celebrated his 40th birthday on Dec. 30 and won the last of his 79 PGA TOUR titles at the 2013 WGC Bridgestone Invitational. That was one of five victories that year for the golfer.

A few weeks later some back issues started to appear, and Woods twice withdrew from the final round of tournaments in early 2014 citing back problems. That led to the March 31, 2014, surgery. Woods has played just 15 worldwide tournaments since then.

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