Woods Won and Done 'Till 2009

Following up from my post on Monday, Tiger Woods was apparently so badly injured during his remarkable U.S. Open run that he will undergo season-ending knee surgery that will force him to miss the remainder of this year's tournaments and majors.

Two weeks ago, Woods suffered a double stress fracture in his left tibia (knee) that caused him most of the pain he encountered at Torry Pines. He did not discover the fracture until before the Memorial Tournament at the end of May and barely had enough time to rehabilitate it before the U.S. Open. This was following an arthroscopic knee surgery on April 15, two days after Woods finished second in the Masters.

Now, in addition to rehabilitating the fracture, Woods will undergo surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the same knee. What is most interesting about the ACL injury is that it actually occurred in 2007 while Woods was running at his home in Orlando after the British Open. He said he decided not to have surgery at that point, and he went on to win five of the next six events he entered.

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

One can only hope his doctors are right in this case. Even though it came out of Woods' own mouth, many pundits did not agree that Monday's U.S. Open victory was his greatest major win to date. With a stress fracture and ACL injury hampering his drive strength, shot quality and walking ability...is there really any doubt?

91 Holes, Only One Tiger Woods

Is there anyone in sports who is more automatic than Tiger Woods?

Stuck at two U.S. Open titles and thirteen major wins, Woods came back from a surgically-repaired, still injured left knee to play in a tough U.S. Open tournament at Torrey Pines. He hadn't walked or played 18 holes since his surgery on April 15, let alone 72...or 90...or 91.

Yet while hobbling throughout the tournament, grimacing from twisting his knee during most of his tee shots and double bogeying the first hole in three of the four regulation rounds, Woods once again made the impossible possible and won his fourteenth major to date in possibly the most amazing fashion.

I've watched my fair share of final round Sunday's but decided this tournament would be my first to watch from beginning to end. In addition to seeing a tough fight to stay above par all weekend, I witnessed two of Woods' top ten shots of all time--the eagles on 16 and 18 on Saturday.

I also saw someone fight against continuously increasing adversity including hitting his final birdie on 18 Sunday to force today's playoff. Everyone knew he would make that put, including the best sport I have ever seen, Rocco Mediate. Then today, Woods loses a three shot lead at 10 to drop a shot below Mediate and doesn't capitalize until the last minute--grabbing another birdie on 18 to force a sudden death playoff. That's not to mention two puts that fell short of winning Woods the title outright both in regulation and at 19.

It only makes me wonder how this tournament would have turned out if Woods was healthy. That is something we may not see for a while as indicated by Woods in his post-match interview.

"I'm glad I'm done. I'm done. I really don't feel like playing any more. (My left knee) has been sore, and all I can say is the atmosphere is what kept me going. The tournament being a major championship here at Torrey Pines, all the people. I could never quit in front of these people--it wasn't going to happen."

"(I'm) not (going to play) for a while. I'm going to shut it down here for a little bit and see what happens."

But for now, Woods is stuck no more. Make that three U.S. Open titles and fourteen major wins, even if it took 91 holes to accomplish perhaps his most amazing major win thus far.