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Spinal fusion Tiger Woods was a successful surgery performed by Dr. Richard Guyer in 2017. The surgery allowed Tiger Woods to overcome his back pain problem. He came back to professional golf in 2019 and won the Masters Championship.
What is spinal fusion? It is a minimally invasive surgery that requires the surgeon to make a small incision – anterior or posterior to approach the lumbar spine, remove the damaged disc, and place the bone graft material to fuse the two vertebrae into a single, solid bone.
Tiger Woods Achievements – TimelineTiger Woods won his third U.S Amateur in August 1996. His victory made him a rising star in professional golf. In the same year, he won the Las Vegas Invitational for the first PGA Tour victory in his 5th professional golf tournament.
One year later, in April 1997, Woods won the Masters tournament. He was only 21 years old and made a record score to become the youngest champion in golf history. In June 2000, Woods won the U.S Open by 15 shots, which was the largest margin in Championship history. Tiger Woods continued his golf victories and won the Masters again. He was the first player who held all four majors.
In June 2007, Woods finished second in the U.S Open, but he won the U.S Open one year later. A week later, after his victory, Woods underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee to fix the torn ACL.
In March 2012, Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first PGA Tour victory. Two years later, in April 2014, Tiger Woods had back surgery a week before the major tournament.
He missed Augusta National Tournament for the first time due to his back surgery. In August 2014, Woods did not participate in the PGA Championship because he wanted to rest for one year after his surgery.
In February 2015, Tiger Woods scored 82 in the Phoenix Open to miss the cut. After seven days, he withdrew from the tournament after 11 holes. In April 2015, Woods returned at the Master and tied for 17th due to his chipping issues.
Tiger Woods Career 2015 – 2020In August 2015, Woods missed the cut in his third major at the PGA Championship. One month later, he underwent his second spine surgery. In October 2015, he had a followed up surgery. In January 2017, Woods made his first PGA tour after two years and missed the cut at Torrey Pines.
In April 2017, He had his fourth spinal surgery. Dr. Richard Guyer performed the spinal fusion on Tiger Woods. In May 2017, Tiger Woods was arrested by Police after they found him asleep in his car. Tiger said he had taken pain medication that caused him to fall asleep. He pleaded guided guilty to reckless driving in October 2017.
In December 2017, the champion golfer returned to golf at his Hero World Challenge. In July 2018, Tiger Woods took the lead in the British Open final round. He made double bogey on the 12th hole and finished in a tie for sixth.
Tiger Woods finished runner-up in the PGA Championship to Brooks Koepka in August 2018. In September 2018, He won the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour. In April 2019, He won the Masters tournament for the 5th time. It was his 15th major title in his golf career and the first one in 11 years.
Spinal Fusion Tiger WoodsTiger Woods had many sports injuries surgery treatments in the past, including back surgeries. Although the spinal fusion surgery performed in 2014 and 2015 relieved his spinal pain temporarily, the problem occurred again.
That’s why he underwent the anterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery, a minimally invasive procedure performed by Dr. Richard Guyer. The surgery required Dr. Guyer to make a small incision in the front to spare the delicate muscles, tissues, and nerves in his spine.
Dr. Guyer removed the degenerated disc between L5 and S1, which is the last lumbar vertebra and top of the sacrum, respectively. L5 and S1 make the triangular bone formation in the pelvis. Dr. Guyer restored the alignment between L5 and S1 and then fused the two bones.
What is spinal fusion?Spinal fusion surgery is a technique designed to stop the motion at the vertebral segment causing severe pain. There are different spinal fusion surgery approaches, such as PLIF, XLIF, TLIF, ALIF, and others.
ALIF is a common procedure for MINT neurosurgeons, who choose a unique route to reaching the lumbar spine. Instead of making the incision in the back, ALIF requires our surgeon to make a tiny incision in the front to spare the back muscles and tissues.
Also, spinal fusion Tiger Woods or ALIF provides a more direct route to the lumbar spine and the disc space with improved efficiency and fewer risks of post-operative complications. Contact MINT for spinal fusion Tiger Woods and sports injuries surgery.
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