Orthopaedic Surgeon: Tiger Woods Could Miss “At Least” Six Months Of Play

An orthopaedic surgeon and former professional golfer predict that Tiger Woods’ recovery from ankle surgery would take “at least” six months.

Earlier this month at the Masters, Woods made his record-tying 23rd straight halfway cut, but the 15-time major champion withdrew after just seven holes of the third round at Augusta National. He was in last place at the time.

The 47-year-old claimed that was because of a flare-up of plantar fasciitis; however, on Wednesday, he disclosed that he had undergone a subtalar fusion treatment to address problems brought on by a prior fracture of his talus, a bone in the ankle joint.

A statement posted on Woods’ social media channels on Wednesday read: “Earlier today, Tiger underwent a subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture.

“It was performed by Dr Martin O’Malley at HSS Sports Medicine Institute in New York City. He has determined the surgery to be successful.

“Tiger is currently recovering and looks forward to beginning his rehabilitation.”

With the US Open in June and the Open Championship in July only 13 weeks away, he is expected to miss the US PGA Championship next month and may end up being eliminated from the rest of his limited season.

Tweeted former PGA Tour player and orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Bill Mallon: “Tiger will have limited weight-bearing during that time, which again will be at the surgeon’s discretion and also depends on how the fusion is healing. It typically takes 6 weeks to 3 months for the fusion to take effect.

“Can he play golf again? Yes, but that’s at least 6 months to a year in the future. His tournaments for 2023 are likely over, and I would not be surprised to not see him play again until Augusta 2024.

“Can he play golf well again? Depends on your definition of well. He’ll never be the Tiger of 2000 or even 2015.

“The fact that this is his right foot/ankle is the saving grace, as you need motion in your left foot/ankle as you roll over it near impact.”

Due to the horrific injuries, he sustained in a vehicle accident in Los Angeles in February 2021, Woods feared his leg would need to be amputated. 14 months later, he made a miraculous comeback and placed 47th at the Masters. He later withdrew from the US PGA after shooting a third-round 79, opted out of the US Open, and failed to make the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Woods is aiming for majors and competitions with which he has a personal connection despite the fact that he can only play a limited number of times each year going forward.

Woods will be desperate to overcome the odds and play in the Open in July at Royal Liverpool, where he won a third Claret Jug in 2006 and his first competition since the passing of his father Earl two months previously. The US Open is held at Los Angeles Country Club in June.

R&A director of corporate communications Mike Woodcock was questioned about the possibility of the American competing in front of what will be a throng of 260,000, a record for an Open not at St.Andrews, before Woods revealed the news of his operation.

“Hoylake has a fantastic array of champions, with Tiger and Rory (McIlroy) being the most recent winners, and of course, we’d love to see Tiger back here in July,” Woodcock said.

“We’ll have to wait and see how he is, but he makes a huge difference to any championship he’s in and we’d love to see him here.”

Woods responded, “Stubbornness,” when asked what the secret to his repeated recoveries from life-altering injuries had been during his pre-Masters news conference.

“I believe in hard work and I believe in getting out there and getting out of it what you put into it. I’ve certainly had my share of adversity physically and had multiple surgeries and I’ve had to come back and work through that.

“Those were tough. They were never easy. But it’s just the overall desire to win has always been there, and I’ve always worked at it and believed in what I could do.”