Tiger Woods revealed on Tuesday that he has ruptured his left Achilles tendon, setting him back for a long period of time as he recovers.
"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. 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 said in a post on X.
Woods added, "I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support."
Although Woods didn't provide a timeline for his return, the Cleveland Clinic states that most Achilles ruptures typically take four to six months to heal. This marks another setback for Woods, who has faced a series of injuries in the later stages of his career. Recently, he had been absent from the sport as he mourned the loss of his mother earlier this year, participating in TGL matches but not full tournaments.
A statement by Stucken was included in Woods' announcement, saying that the procedure had gone well, "The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery."
Woods was preparing to return from a back surgery in September that cut his 2024 season short. He was absent from this week's Players Championship, a tournament he has won twice. The 15-time major champion mentioned in December that he was facing a lengthy recovery from the procedure.
"I'm not physically ready yet to compete at this level," Woods said just before the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. "The times I have come back here, I was ready to start competing and playing again. Unfortunately, not this time. I still need to keep training to give myself the best chance going into next year and the events ahead."
Woods shared that as 2024 went on, his back "just kept progressively getting worse to the point where it just wasn't getting better either from treatments or laying around resting." He noted that "nothing felt good and (an) MRI showed that."
"I'm just progressively trying to test it, keep making progress without setting it off. I don't want to have any setbacks, just want to keep making progress and give myself the best chance going into next year as possible. I feel like I'm getting stronger, I'm getting more pliable, but I've got a long way to go to be able to compete against these guys."
This marked Woods' sixth back surgery and came after his recovery from severe leg injuries sustained in a February 2021 car crash in California.
Woods' career began with a historic surge, but a string of scandals, injuries, and long absences from the game disrupted his once-unparalleled legacy. Once considered the most electrifying player in the sport, Woods continues to draw a dedicated fanbase that fills the course whenever he competes.
Source:
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/11/sport/tiger-woods-ruptured-achilles-tendon-spt
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