Woods undergoes knee surgery
Tiger Woods hits out of a bunker on the second hole during the final round of the 2008 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Sunday. Elise Amendola, The Associated Press
April 17, 2008
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The talk around Harbour Town Golf Links often centers on Tiger Woods’ latest victory, record or streak. On Wednesday, it focused on his left knee.
On Tuesday, Woods announced on his Web site he had had arthroscopic surgery on the knee and would need at least four weeks to recover.
“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it when I heard driving in,” Brandt Snedeker said Wednesday, a day before the start of the Verizon Heritage.
Snedeker finished third at the Masters last week behind champion Trevor Immelman and Woods, the world’s No. 1 player.
The operation should prevent Woods from defending his title at the Wachovia Championship in two weeks, or competing in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass a week after that.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“He only plays about 15 times a year anyway,” Tim Clark said. “So it’s not going to do a lot” to affect the PGA Tour.
Because Harbour Town follows the Masters, Woods has used this week to rest before getting ready for the U.S. Open.
He has made only one appearance in the event, tying for 18th in 1999.
So golfers who do play the Verizon Heritage are typically left answering questions about some aspect of Woods’ success or game.
Fred Funk, who’s friendly with Woods, wondered why the world’s best player took any time off.
“I didn’t know his knee was bothering him,” said Funk, who splits time with the PGA and Champions tours.
“I actually got two blown cartilages and I’m playing through it,” Funk said, laughing. “It’s a surprise. But this is just a window of opportunity for him to get it done.”
Woods hasn’t played like someone with a knee problem. He has won three PGA Tour titles this season and hasn’t finished out of the top five in five events this year.
“He’s in such great shape that you probably wouldn’t know if he had a problem,” Clark said.
Woods’ swing coach, Hank Haney, sat through several interviews at an outing for his International Junior Golf Academy near here in Bluffton without giving away Woods’ injury.
When it comes to Woods, Haney said in describing their relationship, the coach looks to not be “low maintenance but no maintenance.”
