Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Tiger Woods revealed Tuesday he had undergone surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon, derailing the veteran golf superstar’s comeback plans in the latest injury setback to rock the twilight of his glittering career.
“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 said in a post on X. “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.” Woods added a comment from Stucken, who said the surgery “went smoothly and we expect a full recovery.”
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Woods concluded: “I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support.” Woods gave no timetable for his possible return from his latest debilitating injury. However, the recovery time from an Achilles rupture can often last several months, which would almost certainly rule Woods out from playing in any of this season’s majors if his latest injury follows the same timeframe. The 15-time major champion hasn’t teed it up in a tournament since the Open Championship last July.
After another back surgery in September, he did play alongside 15-year-old son Charlie in the PNC Championship family event in Florida in December.
– ‘Fire still burns’ –
He has also played in the TGL indoor simulator league he launched with Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy this year. But the 49-year-old, still hampered by serious leg injuries he suffered in a 2021 car crash, hasn’t played a regular PGA Tour event since the Genesis Invitational in 2024 — when he withdrew early because of illness. Woods had committed to play in this year’s Genesis Invitational but withdrew because he was “just not ready” days after the death of his mother, Kultida.
Woods’s latest injury setback comes less than a month before the first major of the year, the Masters at Augusta National. He finished 60th at the Masters last year and missed the cut in the year’s other three majors. Despite the litany of injury problems that have dogged him in recent years, Woods has repeatedly spoken of his desire to continue playing golf at the highest level, albeit with a scaled back tournament schedule.
“I’ll play as long as I can play and I feel like I can still win the event,” he said ahead of last year’s British Open at Royal Troon. Speaking in December following his back surgery in September, Woods maintained that the “fire still burns to compete.”
“The difference is the recovery of the body to do it is not what it used to be,” he admitted. “That’s part of age and part of an athlete’s journey.” However, he acknowledged that he was uncertain about how much he would be able to play in 2025.
“Whether my commitment going forward is once a month, yeah, I could say that all over again, but I truly don’t know,” he said. “I’m just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better, really give myself the best chance I can going into next year.”
© 2024 AFP
