BREAKING NEWS: Tiger Woods out for the year!

[The Mailman]

Breaking News!

Tiger Woods out for the year with an injury he's going to have surgery on. (ligament?)

[joepa66]

Mailman.....two stress fractures of the tibia and a torn ligament! Out for the season....all the sports reporters are wondering why he jeopardized his career, but I don't think Tiger would have played if he was putting his career on the line. Reportedly his stress fractures came two weeks before the US OPEN!

An amazing feat indeed, winning the US OPEN! Now let all the Tiger nay sayers debunk his victory now. Glad he won the thing even though I was pulling for Rocco! And in no way does this situation cheapen Rocco's effort. He was amazing also.....:thumbs:

[joepa66]

Woods to have knee surgery, will miss rest of the year

Jun. 18, 2008
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

Tiger Woods, who went 91 holes on a wounded knee to win the U.S. Open on Monday, will have reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the 2008 PGA TOUR season. No date has been set for the surgery.

Suddenly a season that had dawned with Woods saying the Grand Slam was "easily within reason" became clouded with doubt and uncertainty as he prepares for a second surgery on his left knee within 10 weeks. By missing the rest of this season, Woods will not play in either of the last two majors, the British Open next month and the PGA Championship in August. It will be the first time he will have missed a major championship since turning pro.

Woods will also not play for the U.S. team in the Ryder Cup in September and will not participate in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup this fall. Woods won the inaugural FedExCup last year.

"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 in a statement released by his management company, IMG.

"My doctors assure me with the proper rehabilitation and training, the knee will be strong, and there will be no long-term effects."

PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said Woods' presence will be missed during the second half of the season.

"For an athlete as talented and competitive as Tiger Woods, taking the rest of the season off must have been an incredibly difficult, yet necessary decision, one that we understand and support completely," Finchem said. "The fact that he needs additional surgery only makes his performance and victory at last week's U.S. Open all the more impressive.

"First and foremost, our concern -- as it would be for any of our players facing surgery or illness -- is for Tiger's health and overall well-being, both on and off the golf course. We wish him the best toward a speedy recovery."

The first operation, an arthroscopic procedure to clean out cartilage, was performed two days after he finished second in the Masters. While Woods practiced and prepared for his return at Torrey Pines, he did not walk 18 holes until the first round of the U.S. Open.

The game's No. 1 player was clearly in pain during the tournament, frequently doubling over after hitting shots and occasionally using a club to lean on as he walked off tees. The pain resulted from a double stress fracture to his left tibia that was discovered prior to the Memorial Tournament. The stress fractures were attributed to Woods' intense preparation to return to the PGA TOUR. Doctors have assured him those will heal with time.

Still, Woods ended 72 holes in a tie with Rocco Mediate, came back for the 18-hole playoff on Monday and won with a par on the first hole of sudden death. The victory was Woods' 14th in a major championship, bringing him within four of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record.

"I know much was made of my knee throughout the last week, and it was important to me that I disclose my condition publicly at an appropriate time," Woods said. "I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredibly hard work, and make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open.

"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."

After hoisting the U.S. Open trophy for the third time in his career, Woods said he planned to "shut it down" for a while. While most expected appearances at next week's Buick Open and AT&T National, which he hosts, the following week were in jeopardy, few expected Wednesday's news.

Hank Haney, who is Woods' swing coach, estimated the recovery time at between six to eight months.

"He's been playing way less than 100 percent for a long, long, time," Haney told the Associated Press. "It has limited him a lot in practice. He's going to come back better than he's ever been."

Woods originally ruptured the ACL following the British Open Championship last year while he was running at home in Orlando. He decided not to have surgery at that point and went on to win five of his next six events -- including the PGA Championship and the final two events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Woods played sparingly during the offseason and returned to the TOUR in 2008 at the Buick Invitational. He won his first three starts of the season but was still experiencing pain so he decided to have the arthroscopic surgery to fix the damaged cartilage that developed due to the ACL injury.

"My rehabilitation schedule after the arthroscopic surgery was designed with the goal of returning to play at the Memorial, but the stress fractures that were discovered just prior to the tournament unfortunately prevented me from participating and had a huge impact on the timing for my return," Woods said.

"I was determined though, to do everything and anything in my power to play in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which is a course that is close to where I grew up and holds many special memories for me. Although I will miss the rest of the 2008 season, I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament."

The upcoming surgery will be the fourth on Woods' left knee. The first operation was in 1994 to remove a benign tumor while the second was an arthroscopic procedure in December 2002. Woods returned to the TOUR in February 2003 -- at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines -- and won three of his next four starts.

Woods currently leads the FedExCup race by 6,755 points over Phil Mickelson. Justin Leonard is the next closest, and he trails Woods by 10,793. Woods also tops the PGA TOUR money list with $5,755,000.

Woods' U.S. Open victory assured him a spot on Paul Azinger's U.S. Ryder Cup team. The player who finishes No. 9 in the standings will now get an automatic spot. Brandt Snedeker currently occupies that position, leading Steve Stricker by 203 points.

Azinger, more than many, can empathize with Woods. He won the PGA Championship in 1993 and was diagnosed with lymphoma in his right shoulder that December. He didn't return to the TOUR until August 1994 and only played four events.

"I admire Tiger as a person, player and fan," Azinger said. "This should not be about Tiger and the Ryder Cup now. This is about Tiger's health and well-being and his march to history."

Woods is now exempt through 2013 after winning the U.S. Open, which carries a five-year exemption. He would also retain his voting membership on TOUR, even though he will not play the minimum 15 events required.

"There is a clause in there about players who miss part of the season due to injury," Andy Pazder, the PGA TOUR's senior vice president for tournament administration explained.

One of Woods' long-term sponsors is Buick, which hosts two events on the PGA TOUR, including next week's tournament in Flint, Mich. Woods had committed to play in the 50th anniversary event, as well as host a clinic for Buick clients on Tuesday at Comerica Park.

Larry Peck, the Buick promotions manager, said while details about the clinic are still being worked on, he's excited about the field for the tournament at Warwick Hills that includes Mediate, the U.S. Open runner up, and Jim Furyk, among others.

"We are in awe of Tiger's incredible performance at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and very happy for him that he won his 14th major championship," Larry Peck, Buick promotions manager said. "We're extremely proud of our long-term relationship with Tiger and hope that his surgery goes smoothly and that he can begin his rehabilitation program soon."

[joepa66]

There is also a statement that I cannot copy from his web site: Official Website for Tiger Woods

[joepa66]

AND, RETIEF GOOSEN IS AN ASS....

Retief Goosen adds insult to injury after claim Tiger Woods exaggerated the pain
Kevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent

Retief Goosen, twice a winner of the US Open, was at the centre of a storm last night that could cloud next month’s Open Championship after he appeared to accuse Tiger Woods of play-acting.The world No 1 won an epic US Open on Monday, only nine weeks after surgery to his left knee, often wincing with pain and limping around the spectacular Torrey Pines course near San Diego, California.

He is consulting doctors about whether he will be fit to play in the Open at Royal Birkdale, but even though Woods appeared to suffer while he laboured over five days to overcome Rocco Mediate, a 45-year-old fellow American, it seems that there may have been some suspicion in the locker-room that Woods was exaggerating his problem to gain the sympathy of an adoring audience.

Goosen was in the field at Torrey Pines, finishing in a tie for fourteenth, but when asked whether he believed that Woods was faking the extent of his pain, he said: “I think so. It just seemed that when he hit a bad shot his knee was in pain and on his good shots he wasn’t in pain. You see when he made the putts and he went down on his knees and was shouting, ‘Yeah’, his knee wasn’t sore.

“Nobody really knows if he was just showing off or if he was really injured. I believe if he was really injured, he would not have played.”

The South African was trying to soften the impact of his remarks last night, although he did not attempt to retract them, merely implying that he was not being serious. When approached by The Times on the eve of the BMW International Open in Munich, Goosen said: “I was being light-hearted. No one but Tiger himself knows how badly hurt he was. But if he was really badly hurt, he would have withdrawn, wouldn’t he?”

Goosen’s comments caused embarrassment at IMG, the management group that looks after the interests of both golfers, which would not make an official statement last night, but suggested that the South African’s remarks may have been misconstrued.

Thomas Rosenborg, his surgeon, is thought to have removed damaged cartilage, but he performed another operation on the same knee almost six years ago when he drained fluid from the anterior cruciate ligament and also removed a benign cyst.

Any surgery is invasive and painful, even for a sportsman as fit as Woods. There is also no doubt that the left knee has been troubling Woods for some time. During some of the events towards the end of the season in the United States last year, he was seen pressing his leg against a cooler box to ease the pain.