Tiger Woods undergoes successful surgery

Tiger Woods is recovering following surgery on his ankle after being forced to withdraw from The Masters. The 15-time major champion pulled out of the tournament ahead of the resumption of the third round due to reaggravating his plantar fasciitis.

Woods underwent a subtalar fusion procedure on Wednesday, as confirmed by an update on his social media accounts. The surgery addressed post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture and was performed by Dr Martin O’Malley at HSS Sports Medicine Institute in New York City. The statement released after the surgery confirmed it was successful, and that Woods was already recovering.

This was just Woods’ second start of the year at The Masters, and his struggles were evident from the start. Battling cold and wet conditions, Woods could only close with a second-round 74 on Saturday morning, putting him just inside the cut mark of three over.

However, his fortunes didn’t improve in the third round, with Woods looking in physical discomfort as he made two bogeys and two double-bogeys over his first seven holes. This left the former world No 1 on nine over for the tournament, three shots behind the second-last player.

Woods subsequently chose to withdraw from the tournament, leaving the course early on Sunday. This was his third withdrawal from a tournament in eight months due to injury, having also withdrawn from the Hero World Challenge last November with plantar fasciitis.

Woods played at the PNC Championship later that month and featured at February’s Genesis Invitational. However, he has only completed 72 holes twice since suffering career-threatening leg injuries in a car crash in February 2021.

It’s not clear when Woods will be able to return to competitive golf, but this latest setback suggests that it may be some time before we see him again. For now, his fans will just have to wait and hope for a successful recovery.

Leon Osamor