On Tuesday, Tiger Woods announced that he underwent surgery after tearing his left Achilles tendon as he began to “ramp up” his training at home.

Following that news, analyst Stephen A. Smith has given a downcast assessment of Tiger’s future, calling the 15-time major champ a “recreational golfer” on ESPN’s First Take.

“I mean no disrespect. But to me, Tiger Woods is a recreational golfer at this point.We know how he’s the all-time greatest, we get that. But his health is so bad. He’s gone through so many physical tragedies.

“I literally look at Tiger Woods and I don’t even think about his game. You know what I think about? One day, because that’s all you got.”

Smith added:

“You walk 18 holes, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – he ain’t making it. Literally, you don’t even think about his swing, ya’ll. You don’t think about his short game, his mid-game, you don’t think about him driving off the tee.

“All you think about is he can’t make it through four days walking before you even think about him swinging. Walking the 18-hole course is not something he can do anymore, and that has been the case for years.”

“And that’s all I mean when I say he’s recreational. Because he can’t do it anymore.”

Woods last teed it up professionally at the Open last summer, and following his latest setback, it appears unlikely that we’ll see him in action in 2025.

Rory McIlroy hopes Tiger Woods plays again in 2026

Rory McIlroy doesn’t believe golf fans will get to see Tiger Woods competing on the PGA Tour this season after the 15-time major champion had surgery Tuesday to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon.

But McIlroy said he wouldn’t be surprised if Woods, 49, attempts another comeback from his latest setback.

“It sucks,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “Yeah, he doesn’t have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body. Obviously, he was trying to ramp up to get ready for Augusta, and Achilles surgeries obviously aren’t fun. Hoping he’s in good spirits and hoping he’s doing OK.”

In a statement posted Tuesday to social media, Woods said he was injured while ramping up his practice for the Masters on April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf Club.

Woods said Dr. Charlton Stucken of the Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida, performed a “minimally invasive” Achilles tendon repair, adding that he was recovering and resting at his home in south Florida.

“We obviously won’t see him play golf this year, and hopefully we [will] see him maybe play in 2026,” McIlroy said. “He’ll try. I know he’ll try. But that’s a question for him, not for me. I obviously don’t know what’s in his head, but judging by prior behavior, he’ll definitely try.”

Woods was already trying to work his way back from microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back. It was believed to be the sixth surgery on his lower back in the past 10 years.

He also had faced a long recovery after suffering serious injuries to his right leg, foot and ankle in a February 2021 car wreck about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Woods told reporters that surgeons nearly had to amputate his right leg because the injuries were so severe, and he underwent multiple surgeries to repair it.

Woods hadn’t competed on the PGA Tour since missing the cut at The Open in Scotland in July. He was scheduled to play in the Genesis Invitational in February but withdrew from the event he hosted after his mother, Kultida, died Feb. 4.

Woods did compete in four TGL matches and played in the Seminole Pro-Member with former PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh at Seminole Golf Club in South Florida earlier this month.

“He said he’d only touched a club three times or something, so I wouldn’t say he’d have been necessarily close [for the Masters],” McIlroy said. “But he was obviously trying to get closer by ramping up and training and practicing and doing whatever he was doing. Yeah, I’d say he was trying to catch up on some lost time there.”

Woods would be eligible to play in PGA Tour Champions when he turns 50 on Dec. 30. He had joked about playing in the circuit for golfers 50 and over in the past.

“I’ve got three more years, where I get the little buggy and be out there with Fred [Couples],” Woods said at the 2023 Masters.