Posted on 04/15/2008 6:14:22 PM PDT by paul in cape
Tiger Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday to repair cartilage damange, his second operation in five years on the same knee. He is expected to miss at least a month while he recovers.
The surgery, announced on his Web site, came two days after Woods finished two shots behind Trevor Immelman in the Masters. He likely will miss The Players Championship, but should return in time to play the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
"I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters," Woods said. "The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can."
The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods' left knee in December 2002. Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.
Woods gave no indication his knee was bothering him the first three months of the season, when he won his first four tournaments to extend a winning streak that dated to September.
"Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthoscopic surgery was recommended," said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent at IMG. "Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible."
Steinberg said the surgery repaired cartilage damage. The 2002 surgery drained fluid from around the anterior cruciate ligament and removed a benign cyst.
Woods won the Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship in consecutive weeks in August, the latter his 13th career major. After tying for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship to Phil Mickelson, he wound the final two events to capture the FedEx Cup, won his unofficial Target World Challenge in December, and won his first four events until tying for fifth at Doral last month.
He occasionally would press his foot against a cooler on the tee box and stretch his knee, but there no other signs he was hurting.
The recovery is expected to be four to six weeks, meaning Woods will not be able to defend his title May 1 in the Wachovia Championship. He likely will miss The Players Championship, one of three non-majors he has never missed since turning pro.
"Of course, we're disappointed when Tiger is unable to compete in a PGA Tour event," commissioner Tim Finchem said on the tour's Web site. "There is really never a good time for an athlete -- especially one of Tiger's caliber -- to take weeks off from competition during the season. But his health concerns have to come first."
And what a class act to not use it as an excuse leading into the Masters...
I root for Tiger. But he has got to mature and grow up. When he wins, you can count all the teeth from a mile away. When he loses he starts cussing the photographers and fans. A little class please.
I thought twice when he was clinbing out of bunkers that something wasn’t right... He had trouble making the last step out.
If he smiled as much as when he wins..they would
put him in the looney bin. Hey, It is natural to
be doowncast when you lose..no matter who the hell
you are. A class act is Tiger and don’t you forget
it????????? JK
On national TV, after hitting a "horrible" drive, he called himself a dumba*s.
At least he's not a hypocrite.
BTW, his "horrible" drive ended up in the wrong part of the fairway. My "good" drives are in the rough ... but sitting up and not behind a tree.
Wow, he still came in second in the Masters and didn’t complain once.
Nonsense. Tiger’s a fighter and a winner.
He’s got a temper? So what?
I also had arthroscopic surgery on my (right) knee this morning. I should be back in time to play in the U.S. open, as well.
I believe he actually was cussing at himself. I’ll try to find a YouTube of it...
He starts scolding photographers or fans who are taking pictures when he misses a key putt and is down.....not just once but many times.....he also used language that had to be bleeped out......
He is not a kid anymore.....so at some point someone would get really pissed off if the smile doesn’t get cut to size when he is dominating and temper tantrums are not controlled when he is losing......
So what? So one of these days someone would punch those tusks in.
I also appreciate that you didn't make excuses for your performance in the Masters.......
Does that count as an athletic injury to be covered by his insurance, or will he have to pay out of his own pocket. I thought players of his caliber didn’t have to do much walking on the links, what’s up with that?
In Tiger’s book about his life growing a golfer, he tells of how his dad would do nearly anything to distract him when he swung. He stated in the book that it taught him to focus. Well, as much as he gripes about a Canon D50 shutter fluttering away 25 feet from his stance, you’d swear he forgot those lessons from dear, old dad.
Well, now we know why he didn’t win Sunday.
Tiger has a very foul mouth. I’m surprised parents let their kids hear him curse the way he does, by following him around the course. The PGA needs to take Tiger and others to task for their behavior. Is the PGA afraid of Tiger?
He drops the f-bomb when he hits a bad shot. He also says G*dd*mn too. At least it isn’t G*dd*am America.
you are the one with the problem.....tusks?
bet you take lots of mulligans too
I agree. It seems his swearing is getting a bit out of hand. I was watching the Masters coverage online when he lipped out a six-footer. He yelled out the F-bomb loud and clear. Even the announcers made embarrassed snickers over it.
I took my kids to the Target World Challenge last December on Pro-Am day. Singh and Furyk both invited the kids on to the tee box with them, and talked to them while I took pictures. Tiger ignored virtually every kid that day. After the round, the other pros spent at least a half-hour signing hats. Tiger wouldn’t give anyone the time of day. He really upset a lot of parents that day. Small crowd, no cameras around, and he still treated everyone like garbage.
A woman next to us brought her twin sons up from Compton to get Tiger’s autograph. One boy was able to shove his hat in front of Tiger’s face to slow him down as he walked past from the press tent. Tiger grabbed the hat as he walked, signed it and threw it back over his shoulder to another person, who gave it to the boy. His brother was devastated, in tears. One mad mom there. I don’t blame her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.