Gregory Bull/Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — A year ago, Tiger Woods was ranked No. 647 in the world when he arrived at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He was coming off career-threatening spinal-fusion surgery, had not won on tour in his past five active years and was happy just to be playing after another long layoff.
The operation to fuse two vertebrae in his lower back, he said this week, was “the last-ditch effort to give me quality of life” even if it did not allow him to compete at the highest level of professional golf again. That is why he had low expectations heading into 2018 and said he was “pleased” to make the cut and finish tied for 23rd at the Farmers Insurance Open.