In August 2013, we saw Tiger Woods collapse on the course at the Barclay’s tournament from debilitating back pain. The star athlete suffered through competition to completion, but withdrew from his next tournament to rest. At the time, he blamed his heavy travel schedule and soft hotel beds for his pain and frequent back spasms. During the off season, Woods took time to rest and prepare his body for the 2014 golf season. Unfortunately, earlier this month, Woods was forced to withdraw from competition at the Honda Classic when his lower back pain once again became too much to handle. He later explained, “It’s my lower back with spasms… It started this morning warming up.” Luckily, through stretching and physical therapy, Woods was able to participate in the Cadillac Classic the following weekend. Tiger has such a powerful swing that, even though he is in great shape, it puts a lot of torque onto his lower back and disks. The full golf swing is a movement that can aggravate an underlying disk condition, as many of my patients have experienced.   Tiger played a strong game at the Cadillac Classic and came in fourth place. However, he wasn’t as lucky