Tiger is having season-ending knee surgery.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3450453
Woods set to have season-ending knee surgery
Tiger Woods has decided to have surgery on his left knee, which will end his 2008 season.

Woods said on his Web site that he 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.

And he revealed 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).

Woods said no date has been determined for the surgery, which will be the third in five years on Woods' left knee.

Woods said doctors have assured him the outlook is positive. Doctors have told him that the stress fractures will heal with time.

"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," Woods said 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 was last seen at Torrey Pines with the U.S. Open championship trophy in hand. He played 91 holes last week, finally beating Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win his 14th major, four behind Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.

"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 next week's Buick Invitational. He hosts the AT&T National the week after that, at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C.



Woods played only seven events worldwide this year and won five of them. He had been scheduled to play in the British Open in July and defend his PGA Championship title in August. He had never missed a major championship in his career.

"For an athlete as talented and competitive as Tiger Woods, taking the rest of the season off must have been an incredibly difficult, yet necessary decision, one that we understand and support completely," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement. "The fact that he needs additional surgery only makes his performance and victory at last week's U.S. Open all the more impressive. First and foremost, our concern -- as it would be for any of our players facing surgery or illness -- is for Tiger's health and overall well-being, both on and off the golf course. We wish him the best toward a speedy recovery."

Woods also will not be available for the Ryder Cup in September at Valhalla, just outside Louisville, Ky. According to the PGA of America, the ninth player in the U.S. standings through the PGA Championship will qualify for the U.S. team. By winning the U.S. Open, Woods mathematically clinched a spot on the team.

Woods is ultraprivate 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 his knee, only that it was more sore as the week went on.

Ack.
ACL surgery is hit or miss. If it's a miss, his career could be over.

I think he'll be alright. It's crazy to think how much he's done playing in pain over the past year.

I'm far from an expert on golf, but how would ACL surgery add so much risk to a golfer?

130 mph swing speed and torque

Did you not see him in excruciating pain after teeing off on Sunday? If his surgery isn't a success, I doubt he'll be able to golf again.

We'll I'll put it this way, If Willis Mcgahee still has a career, tiger won't have an issue. This is a good time for this in his life anyway... He's a grand slam away from tying Jack... and Sam is 1. So he'll get to spend forced time at home and he'll get to enjoy being married and being a dad without anyone bugging him about playing in thier lame ass unimportant tournament.

The problem is, he snaps his left leg when he swings really hard. If you don't get the support over there the tork will force you to pull it left which is what happened the entire tournament. It severely hampers his ability to hit one of his best shots which is a high cut. This being said. I'd say he'll be ready and awesome by the Masters next year and probably play in maybe 5 to 10 tournaments next year.

He will heal. He's cut his non important tournaments big time already to the chagrin of the Kemper/Shell/ lame ass sponsor here ________ opens...

He'll be fine, it's not career ending, but it may well be career changing. Last weekend proved, he's got the best short game ever and it's not up for debate.

I think this makes his accomplishments of the past year that much more amazing. And he's an athlete. That debate should end right here. I think he'll come back and be fine eventually. Its just sad because before the knee injury after the Master's he may have been playing the best golf of his career. I'd really love to see him capture the Grand Slam one day. I think this does reduce his chances of that.

shouldn't the pga tour just end the season now?

this makes what he did over the last weekend even more astonishing, it shows how hungry he is for the majors.

I've just received the following message from a mate:

"Tiger Woods injured for the rest of the year, just as drugs testing is about to come in to the game, now I wonder..."

I don't know whether to or at my friend

Jack won 18 majors.

This is Tim Finchem's worst nightmare...they reckon TV viewing goes up 29% when Tiger is in the hunt on Sunday. Sponsors will run a mile this season.

And don't be so sure Tiger will come back from this, if not completely but in terms of his form. ACL's are huge and the amount of pressure he puts on his left side in his swing, there could be big problems.

Meanwhile, I hope Retief feels like a giant dick, because he is one. Questioning Tiger's pain was pathetic and shows him to be a jealous fuck.

just seen this on the bbc website:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/7465360.stm
Go down to the circled bit

That must be Retief again, or maybe Sabbatini. Both prats.

I think Faldo is right, however. Tiger''s Ryder Cup record is average and he freely admits he doesn't enjoy it.

Tiger has won 14 now correct? So he's 4 away from Tying Jack...

I think he'll have to change his style by a long shot, but hey, it's not necessary to hit the ball 370 yards. He dosen't need to snap his knee. Plenty of players have come back even though it is a tough injury and he's a lot more mentally tough than anyone certainly since Jack Nicklaus. I think he'll come back but lose some distance. Maybe he'll gain some accuracy off the drive which he sorely needs anyway he's already made 4 significant swing changes... this will be one more. He's definately not done, although I expect he and John Smoltz will have some good natured ribbing for each other in the down time.

For the record, I say he comes back to either next years Masters... or Next Years US Open.

I think he'll be fine, but thats just me......alot of the commentators are predicting doom but I think they're doing it just so they have more to write about him when he comes back and keeps winning....this layoff will give them more time to come up with adjectives to describe his greatness that we havent heard yet...its been said by me and others many times, but I'm just glad we're alive to witness this guy

Shit sorry I'm in tennis mode...grand slam being one major in tennis.

I say he wins next year's British or USPGA, I dunno bout the start of the year.