Tiger Woods had fusion surgery on his right ankle on Wednesday morning to alleviate arthritis from a broken bone, putting in doubt whether he will play any more majors this year.
Woods disclosed the surgery on Twitter and said it was a subtalar fusion procedure to address post-traumatic arthritis due to a broken talus bone in February 2021.
pic.twitter.com/qlsq32JpQi
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 19, 2023n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/1648777382541623298″,”id”:”1648777382541623298″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”8ea710c9-8d8e-41ec-abbc-812d7bfbc6bb”}}”>
“He’s resting now and will start the recovery process,” Mark Steinberg, his agent at Excel Sports, said.
The surgery took place in New York, and Steinberg said Woods has returned to his home in Florida to begin rehabilitation.
As for when Woods could return to playing golf, Steinberg said there was “no timetable on this.”
He added: “The first goal is to recover and lead a much more enjoyable day-to-day life.”
Woods shattered multiple bones in his right leg and ankle in February 2021 when the SUV he was driving crashed at about 85 mph and tumbled down the side of a hill in California. The injuries were so severe, Woods said, that doctors contemplated amputation.
Woods has had multiple surgeries on his leg as a result of the car crash. The ankle has been causing most of the problems of late, including a noticeable limp when he played four of the last five majors, most recently the Masters two weeks ago.
The talus is the second-largest of a group of bones known as the tarsus, which forms the lower part of the ankle joint and transmits the weight of the body from the lower leg to the foot. The subtalar joint allows for side-to-side movement needed for walking, especially on uneven surfaces.
Most estimates put recovery from subtalar fusion at eight to 12 weeks. That would all but rule out the PGA Championship next month – Woods was doubtful, anyway, given it will be at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York, where temperatures can still be low in May.
The US Open starts on 15 June at Los Angeles Country Club, and the British Open is in three months (20-23 July) at Royal Liverpool.
Woods made an improbable return 14 months after the car crash to play in the Masters and walked 72 holes. Remarkably, he has missed only one cut – the British Open at St Andrews last summer – although he withdrew after three rounds of the PGA Championship last year and he withdrew this year in the middle of the third round of the rain-delayed Masters.
Woods cited plantar fasciitis for his withdrawal from the Masters, where he tied the record by making his 23rd cut. Plantar fasciitis also was cited when he had to withdraw from his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December, which he said was caused by working too hard to get ready to play.
Jason Day said at the Masters that Woods told him the reason for his withdrawal from the PGA Championship last year “was a screw went through the skin.”
Woods previously had five surgeries on his back. That included fusion surgery on his lower spine that allowed him to return to play. He won the Tour Championship in 2018, the Masters in 2019 for his