Thread: Tiger Woods Out For the Season

Woods set to have season-ending knee surgery

ESPN.com news services

Updated: June 18, 2008, 11:55 AM ET

* Comment
* Email
* Print

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

Damn, I hope he comes back stronger. It's a shame for him to miss the better part of a season while he's in his prime.

I would be interested to get clarification on the "stress fracture" as to where it is and what caused it. The ACL should have been fixed in 2007. He got bad advice on that and it probably led to some of the problems he has now and did not good for the long term quality of the joint. (just my opinion)

Well, deciding to skip surgery in '07 has definatly caught up with him.

Even more amazing that he came back on Monday to win the US Open in a playoff.

No ACL and a broken leg... that's saying something.

Wow, good thing he won the US Open because playing it cost him the rest of the season. It's gonna suck not to see him for a year. I hope he comes back at full strength next season. I don't know about yall but I won't be watching any more golf this year.

Originally Posted by BaileyTheBest

Wow, good thing he won the US Open because playing it cost him the rest of the season. It's gonna suck not to see him for a year. I hope he comes back at full strength next season. I don't know about yall but I won't be watching any more golf this year.

I will still be watching some, but I've definately lost a lot of interest.


So sad. Here's hoping for a better than full recovery.

Originally Posted by cswil

I would be interested to get clarification on the "stress fracture" as to where it is and what caused it. The ACL should have been fixed in 2007. He got bad advice on that and it probably led to some of the problems he has now and did not good for the long term quality of the joint. (just my opinion)

The stress fracture was in the tibia. Can't remember, but I think they said near the top. They found that two weeks ago.

As to the ACL, John Elway played his entire career without getting his repaired.

Also, I read in at least one place "ruptured" and in another "torn". I strain is a partial tear, so I'm not sure we know for sure if he had a full tear, or a partial tear, that resulted in a loose/unstable knee after it healed. It could be that he had a partial tear and they hoped with rest and rehab over the offseason that he would be ok, but that once he started playing he realized the knee was unstable. Hard to say based on the press releases.

Honestly, I think the whole FedEx Cup thing might be a whole lot more interesting now.

I, of course, don't wish injury on anyone, and I love watching Tiger Woods. He's the greatest golfer ever. But, competition-wise, it might make things pretty interesting.

Originally Posted by MissouriBronc

Honestly, I think the whole FedEx Cup thing might be a whole lot more interesting now.

I, of course, don't wish injury on anyone, and I love watching Tiger Woods. He's the greatest golfer ever. But, competition-wise, it might make things pretty interesting.

We were talking about that at work. While I am sure no other golfers would really wish him harm, they have to all feel much better not only about the two remaining majors, but especially the Fedex Cup. Last year in the little playoff thing he didn't even have to play all the tournies and he dominated.

Originally Posted by Tned

We were talking about that at work. While I am sure no other golfers would really wish him harm, they have to all feel much better not only about the two remaining majors, but especially the Fedex Cup. Last year in the little playoff thing he didn't even have to play all the tournies and he dominated.

Paging Sergio. Sergio, you have a call on the White Phone. Sergio Garcia, you have a call on the White Phone.

Originally Posted by MissouriBronc

Paging Sergio. Sergio, you have a call on the White Phone. Sergio Garcia, you have a call on the White Phone.

Originally Posted by White phone

"Time to show up."

Of the other golfers out there, I know it's a lot to ask of him at such a young age, but I hope to see more of Anthony Kim. I like the kid a lot.

Originally Posted by Tned

We were talking about that at work. While I am sure no other golfers would really wish him harm, they have to all feel much better not only about the two remaining majors, but especially the Fedex Cup. Last year in the little playoff thing he didn't even have to play all the tournies and he dominated.

To be fair, he didn't have to play them all to win because he won two of them, correct? I think that would put most players over the top. I'm also fairly sure he wasn't the only one to take a week off.

Tiger could go into the playoffs with a 20,000 pt lead... but his lead gets reset at the start of the playoffs.

But yeah, the competition is likely to be more intense without him... because there's not many others likely to win multiple tournaments in a 4 week stretch.

Originally Posted by LordTrychon

To be fair, he didn't have to play them all to win because he won two of them, correct? I think that would put most players over the top. I'm also fairly sure he wasn't the only one to take a week off.

Tiger could go into the playoffs with a 20,000 pt lead... but his lead gets reset at the start of the playoffs.

But yeah, the competition is likely to be more intense without him... because there's not many others likely to win multiple tournaments in a 4 week stretch.

Well, yes, but the point was that he didn't even participate in all of them.

If one of the NASCAR drivers didn't participate in one of the raises they would lose. There was a fundamental flaw in the system if he can only participate in six events and still win the 10-tournament event.

With that said, how amazing, and how dominating was it?

Still, it will be interesting. Like I said, Yo, Sergio, time to step up, buddy.

BTW...I'm probably a Sergio fan from here on out this year.

Originally Posted by LordTrychon

To be fair, he didn't have to play them all to win because he won two of them, correct? I think that would put most players over the top. I'm also fairly sure he wasn't the only one to take a week off.

Tiger could go into the playoffs with a 20,000 pt lead... but his lead gets reset at the start of the playoffs.

But yeah, the competition is likely to be more intense without him... because there's not many others likely to win multiple tournaments in a 4 week stretch.

The difference is that Tiger took the FIRST week off. He basically said that playing four tournaments (I think that is what it was) in a row would risk wearing him down, so he thought a better strategy would be to skip the first tournament and be fresher for the remaining four.

That was actually a slap in the fact to the rest of the field, because Tiger was saying "I can give all you guys a one tournament head start, and am still good enough to beat you."

Mickleson sat out the second tournament, but that was a protest against the PGA commissioner.