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Mark Schlabach
Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods underwent surgery Tuesday after rupturing his left Achilles tendon while ramping up training and practice at home, he announced in a statement on X.
Woods, 49, said Dr. Charlton Stucken of the Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida, performed a “minimally invasive” Achilles tendon repair.
“The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery,” Stucken said in a statement.
Woods said he was back at home in Jupiter, Florida, and plans to “focus on my recovery and rehab.” A timeline for his return to competition wasn’t immediately known.
The five-time Masters champion will undoubtedly miss the first major of the season, which will be played April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf Club.
Woods hadn’t competed in a PGA Tour event this season following the death of his mother, Kultida Woods, on Feb. 4. He had entered the field for the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines outside San Diego, but then withdrew, saying he wasn’t ready to compete after her death.
Woods last competed in a tour event when he missed the cut at The Open at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland in July.
He has competed in four TGL matches this season, including Jupiter Links’ 9-1 loss to Atlanta Drive GC in the regular-season finale March 4.
In September 2024, Woods underwent microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back. It was believed to be the sixth surgery on his lower back in the past 10 years.
It’s not the first time Woods seriously injured an Achilles. At the 2010 Masters, Woods revealed that he tore his right Achilles tendon in 2008 and hurt it again several times in 2009, yet continued to play. He won six times during the 2009 PGA Tour season.
Woods suffered serious injuries to his right leg, foot and ankle in a February 2021 car wreck near the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, California, about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Woods told reporters that surgeons nearly had to amputate his right leg because the injuries were so severe, and he underwent multiple surgeries to repair it.
In April 2023, Woods had a subtalar fusion procedure to address post-traumatic arthritis in his right ankle that was caused by injuries suffered in the car wreck.
World No. 5 golfer Ludvig Åberg learned of Woods’ latest injury from a reporter during a news conference Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, the site of this week’s Players Championship.
“Obviously, it’s very unfortunate,” Aberg said. “But, yeah, I mean, I wish him a speedy recovery and hope everything goes well.”
Last year, two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer tore his left Achilles playing pickleball in February. He had surgery the next day and was forced to miss only his second Masters in the past 40 years.
Three months after the surgery, Langer, now 67, returned to PGA Tour Champions at the Insperity Invitational on May 3, but he was able to play with the use of a golf cart. He captured the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in November — also utilizing a cart — to win on the circuit for the 18th straight season.
