Woods undergoes 4th back surgery

Jupiter, Florida – Tiger Woods said he had fusion surgery on his back because he could no longer tolerate the pain, and that he wants to get back on the PGA Tour.

“I haven’t felt this good in years,” he said Wednesday in an update on his website.

Woods had the fusion surgery in April – his fourth surgery on his back dating to the spring of 2014 – and said it provided “instant nerve relief.”

The surgery meant missing all the majors for the second straight year. Woods said he did everything possible to get ready for the Masters and was “ready to go.” He said it was similar to the 2008 US Open, which he won on a shattered left leg, because the pain was after he made contact.

“I figured, ‘Can I handle it?’ This time the answer was, ‘probably not. That shows the effect nerve pain can have,” Woods wrote.

Woods had a second back surgery in September 2014, and a third one in November 2014, and then sat out for 15 months until returning last December.