Posted on 06/18/2008 9:55:41 AM PDT by GreenAccord
Tiger Woods, who went 91 holes on a wounded knee to win the U.S. Open on Monday, will have reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the 2008 PGA TOUR season.
No date has been set for the surgery.
Suddenly a season that had dawned with Woods saying the Grand Slam was "easily within reason" became clouded with doubt and uncertainty as he prepares for a second surgery on his left knee within 10 weeks.
By missing the rest of this season, Woods will not play in either of the last two majors, the British Open next month and the PGA Championship in August. It will be the first time he will have missed a major championship since turning pro.
Woods will also not play for the U.S. team in the Ryder Cup in September and will not participate in the FedExCup Playoffs this fall. Woods won the inaugural FedExCup last year.
"While I am obviously disappointed to have to miss the remainder of the season, I have to do the right thing for my long-term health and look forward to returning to competitive golf when my doctors agree that my knee is sufficiently healthy," Woods said in a statement released by his management company, IMG.
"My doctors assure me with the proper rehabilitation and training, the knee will be strong and there will be no long-term effects."
PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem released a statement regarding Woods' announcement.
"For an athlete as talented and competitive as Tiger Woods, taking the rest of the season off must have been an incredibly difficult, yet necessary decision, one that we understand and support completely," Finchem said. "The fact that he needs additional surgery only makes his performance and victory at last week's U.S. Open all the more impressive.
"First and foremost, our concern -- as it would be for any of our players facing surgery or illness -- is for Tiger's health and overall well-being, both on and off the golf course. We wish him the best toward a speedy recovery."
The first operation, an arthroscopic procedure to clean out cartilage, was performed two days after he finished second in the Masters. While Woods practiced and prepared for his return at Torrey Pines, he did not walk 18 holes until the first round of the U.S. Open.
The game's No. 1 player was clearly in pain during the tournament, frequently doubling over after hitting shots and occasionally using a club to lean on as he walked off tees. The pain resulted from double stress fracture to his left tibia that was discovered prior to the Memorial Tournament.
The stress fractures were attributed to Woods' intense preparation to return to the PGA TOUR. Doctors have assured him those will heal with time.
Still, Woods ended 72 holes in a tie with Rocco Mediate, came back for the 18-hole playoff on Monday and won with a par on the first hole of sudden death. The victory was Woods' 14th in a major championship, bringing him with four of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record.
"I know much was made of my knee throughout the last week, and it was important to me that I disclose my condition publicly at an appropriate time," Woods said. "I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredibly hard work, and make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open.
"Now, it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery, and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee."
After hoisting the U.S. Open trophy for the third time in his career, Woods said he planned to "shut it down" for a while. While most expected appearances at next week's Buick Open and AT&T National the following week were in jeopardy, few expected Wednesday's news.
Woods originally ruptured the ACL following the British Open Championship last year while he was running at home in Orlando. He decided not to have surgery at that point and went on to win five of his next six events -- including the PGA Championship and the final two events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Woods played sparingly during the offseason and returned to the TOUR in 2008 at the Buick Invitational. He won his first three starts of the season but was still experiencing pain so he decided to have the arthroscopic surgery to fix the damaged cartilage that developed due to the ACL injury.
"My rehabilitation schedule after the arthroscopic surgery was designed with the goal of returning to play at the Memorial, but the stress fractures that were discovered just prior to the tournament unfortunately prevented me from participating and had a huge impact on the timing for my return," Woods said.
"I was determined though, to do everything and anything in my power to play in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which is a course that is close to where I grew up and holds many special memories for me. Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament."
The upcoming surgery will be the fourth on Woods' left knee. The first operation was in 1994 to remove a benign tumor while the second was an arthroscopic procedure in December 2002. Woods returned to the TOUR in February 2003 -- at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines -- and won three of his next four starts. Email This Story Print This Story RSS Bookmark and Share © 1995-2008 PGA TOUR, Inc. | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and the swinging golfer logo are registered trademarks. A Turner Entertainment New Media Network
He is not my personal favorite but he is a class act and one heck of a ball striker.
I don’t always root for Tiger, but make no mistake, I appreciate what I see when he tees it up, he’s making history in our own time.
I’m thankful every day when I ask my 3 year old God Son who his favorite athlete is and he tells me “Tiger Woods”.
There are far worse people for him to emulate, and very few better.
I wish him well. But I think I would, in his position, milk the time off with the cute wife and little girl. And I would probably have a Scrooge McDuck vault full of money to go swimming in for the rehab.
This is a real shame. I’m gonna miss following him at the British Open & the PGA. The win at the Open was pure guts.
Tiger is leading the charge for testing for Performance Enhancing Drugs in the PGA:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/14505739/
So, I doubt he’s using.
I fell off a ladder in 2004 and ended up having surgery to replace a torn left ACL. He’s going to be doing lots of exercise during rehab and he’ll need to keep it up for a year. After ACL reconstructive surgery, the knee goes back to 90% - 95% of its former glory, but his knee was messed up before anyway. I’m not sure why he didn’t get the surgery right away - maybe because of his career - but delaying surgery can easily mess up the cartilage inside the knee (the meniscus). Plenty of fine athletes have had ACLs replaced and have been fine afterwards, but recovery does take time.
Thanks for the link. I hope you’re right. Would hate to see performance enhancing substances get into the game; they have ruined so many sports.
You wouldn't be the first to speculate but in Eldrick's defense, when asked about drug testing the PGA ranks, he's said 'bring it on!' Of course, as the premier athlete (yes, athlete) on the planet in his sport, if there's one person who might have access to the most undetectable of performance enhancing drugs, it'd be him. And I agree, he does physically have the appearance of someone who's benefited from those pharmaceuticals.
Was just listening to the Golf Channel commentary on Tiger’s knee injury. One commentator related the story told by a trainer or coach who knows Tiger well. The fellow said he was to have dinner with Tiger that night at 8PM. During the day, Tiger was doing his usual training regimen which he (the trainer/coach) said that Tiger begins at 6AM. I don’t have this in the right order but you will get the gist of it. He begins by running, hits balls, lifts weights, hits more balls, and did some other exercises. Around 8PM, Tiger called this trainer/coach and said, “My abs are not feeling just right, so I need to work on them some more”. They had dinner together only after Tiger was satisfied with his abs.
I don’t know Tiger Woods, but to suggest he uses “juice” is, in my opinion, beyond absurd. Woods is a driven man who is incredibly mentally tough and who is a consumate competitive athlete. I cannot conceive of an instance where he would knowingly put something into his body that would cause even the slightest harm.
Your mileage obviously varies.
After I read it, I began wondering about Annika Sorenstam. The LPGA is commencing testing in the second half of this year. I can't imagine she would "step away from golf" now, even though she's getting married, wants to have children, and run her foundations. Lots of women golfers juggle their personal and professional lives. Annika always has appeared "mannish" to me, particularly her thick wrists and legs.
As the article states, these athletes can use small amounts of testosterone cream or HGH (for which the LPGA is not testing) and get away with it...maybe Tiger and Annika? Be in favor of testing "today" because you know you won't get caught...like Lance Armstrong?
Understand, and I hope you’re right. But almost makes the point that the drugs allow you to train with greater frequency and intensity. The steroids, such as testosterone cream, can be used before a workout to prevent muscle tissue from breaking down during and after. Allows an athlete to keep working out, again and again.
So, I wonder who leads the pack for the British Open?
Should be interesting.
If he could get his head together, Sergio Garcia, maybe?
We know one thing for certain. Phil will choke.
Not many of the guys you dealt with in the gym had the ability to hire the top trainers in the world, and even fewer were working out muscle groups specifically for the purpose of improving a powerful golf swing.
Tiger looks “unnatural” because everything he does is designed to improve his golf game. He is not working to improve his physical appearance or build overall strength. It’s more targeted than is typical for even top tier athletes. Nobody in sport shows the focus that he does.
Also, his weight is around 180 on about a 6 foot frame, so he’s not exactly huge.
Hahahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
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