Tiger Woods should put an operating theatre in his Florida mansion on Jupiter Island. Woods has had a seventh surgery on his back. This time it’s to install a lumbar-disc replacement to address issues caused by a collapsed disc in his lower back. He’s expressing optimism that he could come back to play again, but there is no timeline.

The 15-time Major winner has always said he’ll never be a ceremonial golfer. So unless this surgery works miracles we have seen the last of him playing at golf’s top events. Says former PGA Tour player Johnson Wagner, “I just don’t see a world where we see him play in The Masters again — and that makes me very sad. I think his body is just beaten down, and I don’t think he can do it anymore.”

Since his days dominating the Tour ended Woods had expressed hope that he might add one more major— The U.S. Senior Championships— to his haul of 82 tournament wins. That seems a distant hope now as the 49-year-old looks unlikely to play in 2026 or 2027.

It’s also bad news for the PGA’s Champions Tour, where +50 former stars of the main Tour have extended their careers and made more prize money (Calgary hosts the Canadian stop.) The dream of what used to be called the Seniors Tour was to extend the visibility of the game’s drawing cards.

In the years after 1980, when the Seniors was established, the Tour did just that with star players such Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin and Chi-Chi Rodriguez active. Along the way Fred Couples, John Daly, Ernie Els and more also won tournaments on the North American tour. Some used it to stay sharp for the U.S. and British Senior Opens. Others just enjoyed extending their careers while doing a little fishing.

But the great hope was that Woods and Phil Mickelson would highlight the Tour once their days on the regular Tour were done. Mickelson, however, has aligned himself with the rival LIV Tour, forgoing the PGA Champions.. That left Woods, the TV ratings magnet, to be the marquee attraction for the Tour. But that seems a faint hope now with this latest surgery. And the vast amount of money he’s already accumulated pounding these aging golfers into the turf.

Which has many in the know now suggesting the PGA Tour might just fold the Champions for good. While charisma-challenged Bernhard Langer has dominated the money-winners list well into his 60s, the star power of marquee names from the 1980s, ‘90s and 2000s has been sparse. Els, Retief Goosen, Stewart Cink and Padraig Harrington still compete and win. But a steady diet of Steve Alker, Richard Bland, Ken Tanigawa and Canada’s Stephen Ames leaves the viewing audience cold.

So could the Champions be reduced or eliminated? Without the promise of Woods teeing it up the future looks bleak. Nothing that happens in professional golf these days should surprise anyone, however. Since the arrival of the Saudi-sponsored LIV Tour stole a generation of stars such as Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau the viewing public is baffled by what was traditionally a very stable lineup of tournaments from January through September.

There have been active negotiations the last two years between the LIV Tour and what remains of the PGA Tour, spearheaded by Rory McIlroy,. But so far no one has come up with a solution that puts golf’s Humpty Dumpty back together again. LIV has proven it can outspend the Tour if it comes to a spending contest so waiting for bankruptcy to return the LIV players to the PGA is a non-starter.

Fans are naturally disappointed and confused about the shifting picture. But as the rowdy Ryder Cup at NYC’s Beth Page Black demonstrated the sport can still command centre stage— even against an NFL weekend of games. The winning Europeans were demonized by hecklers and boors, adding a frisson of danger to the event.

It was must-see TV, even if it was rude. The geopolitical conflict reminded sponsors and networks of the potential for golf to once again capture the imagination of a global sports audience. If it just finds the right format.

Then there’s the Happy Gilmore factor. Adam Sandler’s second installment of the comedy series was a huge hit for Netflix with its blend of juvenile humour, celebrity cameos, golf greats, Bad Bunny and a flimsy plot about a futuristic tour involving Haley Joel Osment and supercharged golf course. Not much made sense beyond the appeal of golf. But non-golfers watched. (Owen Wilson’s series Stick has also been good story for golf.)

The plot inclusion of a rival league is a light-hearted jab at LIV— but also at the new TGL indoor competition that started last winter in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Fronted by Woods and featuring a number of current stars playing for various cities it has mechanical greens that rotate to mimic a real course and simulated holes on golf simulator.

Its biggest drawback is that the personalities of the Arnie/ Jack era half a century ago are largely missing from the men now dominating golf. Scotty Scheffler is affable. Tommy Fleetwood is modest. Justin Thomas has the charisma of a CPA. What the product needs are more Dalys and Shane Lowrys. But the fantastic purses they’ve earned have dulled the edge of golf’s legends post WW II.

For now, Woods will rehab, the sponsors will hold their breath and the audience will nod off on the couch till something reminds them of what they used to love.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.