Woods: I had to be helped out of bed every day

Cape Town -  Tiger Woods has revealed that his back was in such bad shape at one point that he needed help getting out of bed.

Woods' recent comeback has been so remarkable it's easy to forget how serious his injury struggles were as little as a year ago.

But in a recent interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith, the 14-time major champ revealed some of the darkest moments of his long recovery - like living with constant pain that made it hard to walk or even stand up.

"The low periods were, for the better part of four to six months, I had to be helped out of bed every day," Woods said.

"And there were some days where you'd help me and I couldn't stand up. I'd have to either just fall to the floor or just stay in bed.

"Coming back and playing golf was never in my thoughts. It's just 'how do I get away from this pain? How can I live life again?' That was driving my life. I felt like I couldn't participate in my own life."

As great as it is to be in contention again, Woods said that after four years on the sidelines, just being able to play with his son or his friends again was a huge victory.

"I'm able to play golf again out here with my buddies. I missed that so much," he said.

"I used to bring my son out here and he'd play and I couldn't because I couldn't swing a golf club. I could barely ride in a golf cart. I missed being able to just go out and play. My buddies call me up, 'hey let's go play a quick nine... OK, let's go.' I couldn’t do that for the better part of four years."

"For a game that's been a part of my life since as far as I can remember, now I couldn't do it. That was very disheartening. It hurt. I hit some pretty low periods through there. And finally I've come out the other side."