Tiger Woods walked tenderly out of Torrey Pines with a U.S. Open trophy he was destined to win on a left leg worse than anyone imagined. A group of children called out to him and Woods looked over and waved.
It turned out to be a most symbolic gesture.
So long, Tiger.
See you next year, when he returns from knee surgery.
“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 on his website.
Hank Haney, his swing coach, was with him in Florida when doctors told Woods the preferred treatment was three weeks on crutches, followed by three weeks of rest.
According to Haney, Woods looked at the doctor and said, “‘I’m playing the U.S. Open, and I’m going to win.’ He was not going to miss the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.”
And it was a U.S. Open that will be talked about for years. Despite a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a double stress fracture, Woods managed to win a major that required five days of flinching, grimacing and a long list of spectacular shots.
Woods, 32, did not say when he would have surgery, but he canceled a clinic that was scheduled for Tuesday at Comerica Park in Detroit. Haney said the typical recovery is six to eight months.
This will be Woods’ third surgery in five years on his left knee.
“There will be debate whether he rushed back for the U.S. Open,” said Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG. “But I don’t think there will be any debate that he rushes back from his next surgery. He won’t need to. Augusta is in April. And if things go according to plan, he’ll be able to play an event or two or three (before).”
Woods first went to Haney toward the end of 2002 to overhaul a violent swing that was putting enormous pressure on his left knee.
Haney suspects the pain has been increasing, and Woods stopped hitting balls after his rounds at last year’s British Open.
“He’s been playing way less than 100 percent for a long, long time,” Haney said. “It has limited him a lot in practice. He’s going to come back better than he’s ever been.”
Even in his abbreviated 2008 season, he won five of seven tournaments worldwide.
“While I am obviously disappointed to have to miss the remainder of the season, I have to do the right thing for my long-term health and look forward to returning to competitive golf when my doctors agree that my knee is sufficiently healthy,” Woods said. “My doctors assure me with the proper rehabilitation and training, the knee will be strong and there will be no long-term effects.”
Woods will miss a major for the first time in his career — first the British Open next month at Royal Birkdale and then the PGA Championship, where Woods is the two-time defending champion, in August at Oakland Hills in Michigan. He will also miss the Ryder Cup in September.
“Tiger is our tour,” Kenny Perry said from the Travelers Championship, which starts Thursday at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. “When you lose your star player, it definitely hurts.”
