As Tiger Woods' Masters speculation ramps up, surgeon weighs in on golf legend's chances

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Speculation over whether Tiger Woods would play at the Masters next week in Augusta, Georgia, ramped up when his plane was spotted at a local airport and he reportedly took part in an 18-hole practice round.

While Woods has been seen on the golf course multiple times — even taking part at the PNC Championship in December — he has yet to compete in an event this year and has said he wouldn’t compete on the PGA Tour full time as he once did.

Woods has had back issues over the last decade and broke a leg in a February 2021 car crash in Los Angeles. Board-certified orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rahul Shah told Fox News Digital in a recent interview Woods’ injury history is "definitely eye-opening" but each injury and recovery process is different.

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Inductee Tiger Woods speaks during the 2022 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction at the PGA Tour Global Home March 9, 2022, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

"The truth is you have to take each injury one step at a time. If you kind of chronicle his injuries, you start with multiple bumps and bruises growing up and then he had the significant torquing injury to his back where he blew out one of his discs," said Shah, who specializes in complex spine conditions and minimally invasive surgeries.

"That gave him a problem, and he had to shave that down. Then it happened again, so they did another shave down. But it wasn’t enough, so then they had to do a surgery to basically get all of the area where that disc wasn’t working well to basically have it fused together.

TIGER WOODS 2022 MASTERS SPECULATION GROWS AS GOLFER ARRIVES AT AUGUSTA