Tiger Woods has had an operation on his ankle that is likely to cause him to sit out the rest of the 2023 Major season while he recovers.
The 47-year-old underwent the surgery on Tuesday at a private clinic in New York, where Dr Martin O’Malley carried out a subtalar fusion procedure that will require a cast to be worn around the foot and ankle for between 8-12 weeks.
Woods withdrew before the third round of this month’s Masters Tournament after he looked in pain throughout the season’s opening major. The surgery, which was said to have been successful, effectively rules him out of competing in next month’s PGA Championship, the US Open in July, or the Open Championship, which get underway at Royal Liverpool on Jul7 17, which is in just 90 days’ time.
In a statement issued by Mark Steinberg, Woods’s agent, said: “Tiger is currently recovering and looks forward to beginning his rehabilitation. The first goal is to recover and lead a much more enjoyable day-to-day life.”
Woods has played sparingly since suffering serious injuries to his right leg, ankle and foot in a car crash in February 2021. He has played in just five official PGA Tour events and although he made the cut in four, he has only finished two of those events.
So far in 2023, Woods finished tied 45th at the Genesis Invitational and withdrew from the Masters on Sunday morning before the rain-delayed third round was scheduled to resume. In his reasons for withdrawing Woods cited a plantar fasciitis injury, the symptoms of which are acute pain around the heel and arch of the foot.