An ambiguous title for an ambiguous situation. Tiger Woods announced yesterday that he would not be participating in this year’s Masters due to a recent back surgery. His return date to the Tour is unknown and depends on the pace of his recovery.

This has raised speculation among some about his ability to achieve two goals: passing Sam Snead’s total wins on the Tour, and breaking Jack Nicklaus’s total of 18 majors (Tiger stands today at 14). The first is, with a caveat, a lock. The second is no longer as certain.

After his last major, the US Open in 2008, I thought it would be a lock as well, until I heard that he played the last round essentially on a broken leg. I’d told my friends long before that his ensuring success depended on his health. He was just at that point one of the two greatest golfers of all time. Nicklaus suffered from hip problems, but these came long after his prime. Tiger has had health issues (leg, knee, and now back) in the midst of his prime.

Despite his marital and heath issues, it is still worth remembering that Tiger won 5 times in 2013 with over 8 M in earnings. This can hardly be seen as a “disappointing” year, except for the fact that he didn’t really contend in any of the majors on the final day.

Much will depend on the nature of the injury and surgery — Woods is remarkably circumspect in this area — and how fast he pushes himself to recover. I would hope he gives it sufficient time. It is clear to me that Tiger is the kind of athlete that can push his body past was it can reasonably handle. I would guess that his drive and capacity for enduring pain is high. He has said as much recently, claiming that there are types of pain he can and played through (see the broken leg), but the back and spine issues are different. Back and spine surgery is also different than leg/knee. I have never known anyone who has had “just one” back surgery.

So here’s my wish for a healthy Tiger’s back back. There’s no current player on the Tour that is as exciting to watch, and I feel happy to have grown up to watch Jack, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, and Tiger play the game.