Tiger Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday to repair cartilage damage, his second operation in five years on the same knee. He is expected to miss at least a month while he recovers.
The surgery, announced on his website, came two days after Woods finished three shots behind Trevor Immelman in the Masters. He likely will miss The Players Championship, but should return in time to play in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on June 12.
“I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters,” Woods said. “The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can.”
The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods’ left knee in December 2002.
Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.
Swing coach Hank Haney said he knew Woods’ knee was bothering him, but was not aware of the surgery until Woods called him.
“He’s been having a lot of trouble,” Haney said. “He doesn’t talk about stuff like that. He doesn’t want to use excuses, you know? I don’t think it affected his play. It affected his practice a little bit. He hit 14 greens in regulation on Sunday. Hard to say it was the knee.”
Woods gave no indication his knee was bothering him the first three months of the season, when he won his first four tournaments to extend a winning streak that dated to September.
“Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible.” said Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG.
Assuming the recovery goes as planned, Woods probably will return at the Memorial two weeks before the U.S. Open.
