Achilles surgery likely to rule Woods out of Major championship season
TOUGH TIMES: Tiger Woods, who has undergone surgery for a ruptured Achilles.
In what has become a familiar refrain, Tiger Woods announced another significant injury and surgery on Tuesday that will likely scuttle yet another major championship season.
Woods, who has yet to compete in an official tournament since missing the cut at last summer’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, announced via social media that he suffered a torn Achilles tendon as he tried to prepare to play the Masters in April.
“As I began to ramp up my own training and practice at home, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles, which was deemed to be ruptured,” Woods wrote.
“This morning, Dr. Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida performed a minimally-invasive Achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon. … I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you all for the support.”
His note included a comment from Dr. Stucken: “The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery.”
The injury is yet another setback in a long list of injuries that have piling up from Woods dating back to 2002, when he has surgery on his left knee, and again in 2008, when he won the US Open on a stress-fractured left leg and a torn ACL in his knee. He’s undergone six back surgeries since 2014 – the most recent last September – as well as multiple surgical repairs to his lower right leg that suffered major damage in a car crash in Los Angeles in 2021.
He's missed 23 majors due to injury since 2008 and withdrawn in two others.
Woods, 49, had already declined to play in this week’s Players Championship – his final year of eligibility based on his 2019 Masters victory – as he cited the lingering effects from the death of his mother, Kultida, on Feb. 4 to prompted him to withdraw before the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Woods last played the Players six years ago when he tied for 30th just a few weeks prior to his 2019 Masters victory, earning a five-year exemption to Sawgrass that he never once utilized. Woods’ exemption was extended a year due to the tournament not being played in 2020.
Following a missed cut in July at the Open, Woods returned to the exhibition PNC Championship with his son in December, walking 54 holes including the pro-am and generally looking pretty good considering his various physical setbacks. He’s played in a handful of TGL events this winter in the simulation golf league he helped found with Rory McIlroy.
He originally planned to play the Genesis Invitational that was moved to Torrey Pines due to the Los Angeles wildfires last month but withdrew on Monday of tournament week on the heels of his mother’s death two weeks before.
Last Tuesday following his TGL match, Woods hinted that it was unlikely he’d play until the Masters.
“This is the third time I’ve touched a club since my mom passed, so I haven’t really gotten into it,” he said. “My heart is really not into practicing right now. I’ve had so many other things to do with the tour and trying to do other things.
“Once I start probably feeling a little bit better and start getting into it, I’ll start looking at the schedule.” The $25 million Players Championship is one of the few events for which Woods cannot get invited. As a lifetime member of the PGA Tour, he can play any regular event and would have no trouble getting sponsor invites regardless. The tour created a special category for him to play in the signature events without taking away a spot from anyone else. The only one he has played in the last two years is the Genesis at Riviera, a tournament his foundation runs.
As a past champion, he is eligible to play the Masters and PGA Championship as well as the British Open until age 60. His five-year exemption from the Masters has run out at the U.S. Open, which he won three times. Last year, Woods received a special invite from the USGA to play at Pinehurst. This year would have marked the 25th anniversary of his 15-stroke victory in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
In September, Woods underwent microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back.
“The surgery went smoothly, and I’m hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season,” Woods said. “I look forward to tackling this rehab and preparing myself to get back to normal life activities, including golf.” That rehab schedule seems likely to extend another year.
