Those who wondered if Tiger Woods was being overly dramatic during his U.S. Open victory found out yesterday that the world's greatest golfer basically won his 14th major championship on one healthy leg.
Woods, who grimaced countless times throughout the tournament and during the 19 holes of a thrilling sudden-death playoff win Monday over Rocco Mediate, announced he will undergo reconstructive knee surgery and miss the rest of the year.
"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 in a statement. "Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament."
Aside from a torn ligament in his left knee, which he sustained last year while jogging at home after the British Open, Woods also disclosed that he suffered a double stress fracture of the left tibia earlier this year.
After winning the U.S. Open, Woods admitted that doctors told him he should have not played but was "too stubborn" to listen. Woods did not disclose the double-stress fracture or that doctors in Florida had told him to do nothing for three weeks - thus missing the Open - and to use crutches when he needed to walk.
"Tiger looked at the doctor and said, `I'm playing in the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win.' And then he started putting on his shoes," said Hank Haney, who has been Woods' swing coach the past four years. "He looked at me and said, `C'mon, Hank, let's go putt.' "
These are the most serious injuries of Woods' career. He has been hampered by knee problems the past few years but continued to dominate the tour after undergoing a pair of arthroscopic knee surgeries. The win in the U.S. Open, in which he needed to birdie the 18th hole both Sunday and Monday to stay in the hunt, was his ninth victory in his last 12 events.
Woods had arthroscopic surgery on April 15 --- two days after finishing second in this year's Masters - to clean out cartilage in the knee with hopes of getting through the rest of the year without surgery.
But Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., where he has now won a tour-record seven times as a pro, and the toll of the week proved to be too much, even for Woods.
The injury to Woods will have an immediate impact on the rest of the tour, and potentially a longtime impact on the record books if his recovery is slowed.
