The uncertain future of Tiger Woods: he underwent surgery on his right ankle and does not have a date to return to golf

The body has betrayed again Tiger Woods, who also underwent surgery this Wednesday and put a big question mark on the date of his return to the golf courses. As reported by his team, the former world number one underwent fusion of the subtalar joint (located under the ankle), to treat the post-traumatic arthritis that caused a fracture to the talus of his right foot. suffered in his car in February 2021 accident.

The procedure – performed by Dr. martin or malley at the New York Institute of Sports Medicine – was “successful”. “Tiger is recovering from surgery and is eager to begin his recovery,” he assured his entourage in the short statement posted on social media. And he has set no deadlines for his return to green.

Woods, 47, had raised the alarm about the state of his right foot a few weeks ago at the Masters. The winner of 15 Majors withdrew from the tournament held in Augsburg from February 6 to 9 before the last round. “I am disappointed to have to withdraw this morning due to a flare up of my plantar fasciitis,” she explained shortly after in Chirping.

The bad weather that had altered the normal course of the day forced Woods to play 29 holes on Sunday. But he couldn’t even play the ones that were pending from the third round and went down after completing the first seven of the day.

“My game is better than last year at this point. My stamina is better. But my leg hurts more. I can hit a lot, the problem is walking,” he warned hours before the start of the match, as if predicting what might happen on the grass of the Georgia field.

After Wednesday’s surgery, Woods was left on very familiar ground. It’s that visits to the operating room were the order of the day in his career. He underwent five surgeries on his back (three in three years) and as many on his left knee; and minor surgeries were also performed for problems in the left elbow, neck and Achilles tendon of both feet.

Of almost everything returned successfully. When he was recovering from the last one on his back, which was in January 2021, he suffered a very serious car accident, which caused him multiple fractures to the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which came close to amputation.

The former world number one has come to think his golf life was over, but he has risen from the ashes. Although due to the aftermath of the injuries from the accident, it was never the same.

In the 2022 edition of the Masters, the first official tournament he played after the crash, he signed the worst performance of his career in the competition, in which in 1997 he had won his first Major. He was 47, but still walked away happy to have made the cut-“That was already a win for me”recalled a few weeks ago – and acclaimed by the people.

In May he retired from PGA Championship, exhausted and aching after one of the worst days of his career, after completing the third round with a 79-shooting card, nine over par, and a conspicuous limp. It was his first professional retirement from a Grand Slam tournament. And in July he broke down in tears after saying goodbye to the British open after the second day, with an overall +9, which did not allow him to make the cut. “It could have been my last time here,” he commented.

Who is one of the best golfers in history had warned in November 2021, nine months after the accident, that he would no longer play a full PGA Tour calendar and that he would choose a few events a year to treat himself to continuing to compete.

For this 2023 he had marked on his calendar, among others, the PGA Championship, which will be held in May, and the US Open, scheduled for June. But this new foot operation could complicate his plans. Even if the American has already demonstrated in the past that when he sets himself a goal, he almost always achieves it.

“My secret is my stubbornness, I’ve never hidden that I’m stubborn,” he assured in the Masters preview. “I believe in hard work. I’ve always loved and appreciated hard work. I’ve had a lot of physical adversity, my share of surgeries and had to work a lot to get back. It was tough, but the great will to win was always there. And I always believed that I would make it.”

Will he do it again?