Tiger Woods Done for the Season With ACL/Tibia Injury

[wolfy6finger]

Tiger Woods has decided to have surgery on his left knee, which will end his 2008 season.

Woods said on his Web site that Woods will have surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. He also wrote that he needs time to rehabilitate a double stress fracture of his left tibia, which he said was discovered just before the Memorial Tournament in late May.

Woods skipped that event, but played 91 holes in winning the U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate.

Woods said no date has been determed for the surgery.

"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. 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," said Woods on his Web site. "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."

Woods said on his Web site that he originally ruptured the ACL in 2007 while running at his home in Orlando after the British Open. He said he decided not to have surgery at that point, and he went on to win five of the next six events he entered (through his Target World Challenge in December).

"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 wrote on his Web site. "My doctors assure me with the proper rehabilitation and training, the knee will be strong and there will be no long-term effects."

Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on April 15, two days after he finished second in The Masters in April.

Woods had committed to playing in the Buick Invitational next week. He hosts the AT&T National the week after at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C. The report said he would fulfill his obligations to sponsors at those events.

He was also scheduled to play in the British Open in July and defend his PGA Championship title in August.

The Ryder Cup is set for September at Valhalla, just outside of Louisville, Ky.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report

[pistonj92]

I'm glad I heard of this before I bought tickets for the PGA Championship at Oaklnad Hills this year. Dam, I was pretty pumped to see Tiger in person.

[wolfy6finger]

Tell me about, hopefully he comes back better than ever in '09.

I just started playing golf over the last few years and his 3 "unbelievable"shots on Saturday, made me go out on Sunday to play 9 on a local course.

[RaysFTW]

Dang. Tiger is my favorite golfer. Tough to see him go down like this after such a great win.

[brutushayesosu]

2008 has really been a crappy year all around and now the PGA is feeling it.

[wolfy6finger]

Here's another article about Woods injury--supposedly he tore his ACL at last years British....

Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the season because of surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee, an injury he has been dealing with the last 10 months despite winning nine of 12 tournaments.

Tiger out for year Jeff Gordon thought Tiger's win in the 2008 U.S. Open was his greatest major triumph and an overwhelming number of you agreed. And that was before the revelation that he beat the world's best golfers in arguably the sport's toughest test with a double stress fracture in his tibia and a knee that will require reconstructive ACL surgery.

Now that all the facts are out, what do you think about Tiger's performance, the PGA Tour's ability to survive the season without him and whether Woods will still be able to break Jack's major record?

He had arthroscopic surgery April 15 to clean out cartilage in his left knee, bypassing ACL surgery with hopes it could get him through the 2008 season. But going 91 holes for his 14th career major made it impossible to play any longer.

"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," Woods said in a statement on his Web site.

Woods was last seen in public late Monday afternoon walking with a pronounced limp across Torrey Pines toward the parking lot, the U.S. Open trophy in his arms.

Upcoming surgery makes his 14th major title even more staggering — despite the stress fractures, he managed to win a U.S. Open that required five days of flinching, grimacing and a long list of spectacular shots that have defined his career.

"Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament," Woods said.

He played only seven times worldwide this year and won five of them. He will miss a major championship for the first time in his career and will not be available for the Ryder Cup in September.

It will be the third surgery in five years on his left knee, although Woods said doctors have assured him the outlook is positive. When asked Monday if he further damaged his knee by playing in the U.S. Open, Woods said, "Maybe."

Doctors have told him, however, that the stress fractures will heal with time.

He did not say when he would have surgery.

Woods is ultra private with his health and personal life, never more so than at the U.S. Open. He never mentioned the torn ACL or the stress fracture, and wouldn't say how he was treating it, only that it was more sore as the week went on.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was when the injury first happened.

Woods said he tore the ACL while jogging at home after the British Open last July. He chose not to have surgery and went on a run that included seven consecutive victories, including the Dubai Desert Classic in Europe and his Target World Challenge, an unofficial event.

He did not play overseas late last year for the first time since 2003, hopeful that rest could allow him to play more this year. But the pain intensified through the Masters, where he finished second, and Woods said the cartilage damage developed from the ACL injury.

What he didn't anticipate were the stress fractures, discovered as he tried to get ready to play in the Memorial.

"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."

[Kayxero]

Dang without tiger ratings are gonna suffer unless Vijay or Lefty Mick step up and contend at most events. those two along with Sergio Garcia can pull in ratings when tiger is out or playing poorly.

I love the Big Fijian and Lefty though. Def fan faves next to Tiger. Whenever they go up against him its hard to chose who to root for. I would have loved my fellow left hander to do better this past weekend at the open though. Mickelson will bounce back though.

Btw its amazing how injuries happen in every sport. Its like your body can decide to be injured no matter the physicality of the sport. From rugby to american football to baseball to golf to tennis. I mean when you think about it some rugby players have long careers never getting injured, and then some baseball guys like Pavano cannot wait to get hurt. Thats sports for you though.

Get well Tiger. If anything other people have a chance to win now. Also did anyone else know that Mediate jumped like 100 slots in the world ranking for his performance this weekend. Hes somewhere in the 40's now.

[wolfy6finger]

Yeah, they projected him going up to 29 if he had won.

[HardcoreLegend]

I miss you Tiger. :(