PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Golf without Tiger Woods was inevitable simply because of age.
He turns 50 at the end of this year and once leaned on the adage that “Father Time remains undefeated.” But for Woods, it has been the mother lode of injuries that is keeping him from going out on his own terms.
The latest was revealed in a social media post saying he had ruptured his left Achilles tendon and had surgery Tuesday — the minimally invasive variety, but one that keeps him out of the Masters next month and likely everything else the rest of the year.
“It sucks,” Rory McIlroy said Wednesday at The Players Championship. “He doesn't have much luck when it comes to injuries and his body. Hoping he's in good spirits and hoping he's OK. We obviously won't see him play golf this year, and hopefully we see him maybe play in 2026.”
Everything is “maybe” with Woods, the player who made golf cool to watch, who caused TV ratings to spike and prize money to soar, who delivered a level of dominance measured not only by his 15 majors and 82 titles on the PGA Tour but the fact that he had no lasting rival — until the injuries and surgeries began to accumulate.
His mother, Kultida, died last month and Woods withdrew from the Genesis Invitational as he coped with the loss. He chose not to be at The Players Championship, the final year of his exemption from winning the 2019 Masters.
“As I began to ramp up my own training and practice at home, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles, which was deemed to be ruptured,” he said in the post.
Another lost year for a player running out of time. The list of injuries is staggering.
The left knee. The lower back. Two stress fractures in his left tibia while winning the 2008 U.S. Open. An injury to his right Achilles tendon while running. An injury to his left Achilles tendon from hitting a shot off an awkward lie at the Masters.
Six back surgeries, the most significant to fuse his lower back in 2017. A car crash on a coastal road outside Los Angeles that so badly damaged his right leg and ankle that he said doctors contemplated amputation. Plantar fasciitis. A strained oblique. Surgery to fuse his right ankle.
He kept coming back, and he remained a must-see attraction even though his appearance were largely limited to the majors. He has played eight majors since the 2021 car crash and only twice finished all 72 holes — both at the Masters. He was never in hunt at either one.
There was a time when Woods was on pace to break the gold standard in golf — 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus — until that looked more unlikely with each injury.
“If he'd have been healthy, I think he would have got it,” Nicklaus said in an interview two weeks ago with Golf Channel. “But he didn't remain healthy. We all have injuries, we all have different things that change things. Tiger had his problems. I feel bad for him.”
Nicklaus recalled telling Woods: “Nobody wants their records to be broken. But I don't want it not to be broken because you don't have the ability to do so. I feel bad for him on that.”
Woods won his last major at the 2019 Masters, an astonishing victory considering it was only two years earlier that he struggled to walk up the stairs to the Masters Club dinner. And then he won later in the year in Japan for his record-tying 82nd title on the PGA Tour.
That was his last win. He hasn't come close since.
What keeps him going? What is there left to prove? That's a question all golfers face, whether it's age or injury. Few other sports offer such longevity.
McIlroy turns 36 in May — this is his 18th year as a pro. He knows the day is coming, and he has mapped out an exit strategy.
“Whenever I feel like the time is right, I’ll have no problem moving aside and letting the next generation do their thing,” McIlroy said. "I’d also like to walk away with a little bit left in the tank. I don’t want to be out there embarrassing myself. I’d like to walk away maybe a little before I should, put it that way.
“I think if you can come to terms with that and walk away on your own terms, then that’s a good thing.”
Nicklaus never wanted to be a ceremonial golfer. He played in all the majors for 12 years after winning his last one at the 1986 Masters.
Has golf seen the last of Woods? He is exempt for life at the Masters and PGA Championship. He can play the British Open for 10 more years. He can walk away on his own terms, but his health will have a big say in that.
McIlroy was asked if he could ever see Woods being competitive again. That's what so many fans want to see — hope to see — in the absence of any evidence the last five years.
“He'll try — I know he'll try,” McIlroy said. “But that’s a question for him, not for me. I obviously don’t know what’s in his head. But judging by prior behavior, he’ll definitely try.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
