Tiger Woods is a near certainty to miss the Masters for just the fifth time since his debut in 1995 after confirming emergency surgery on a ruptured achilles, sustained while training at home.
Woods has not played an individual event since missing the cut at the Open Championship last summer. He is a notable absentee from the Players Championship this week, with a lack of appearances in the early part of this year partly due to the death of his mother in early February.
The assumption was that the 15-time major champion would tee up at Augusta National in April. However, Woods all but ruled that out with a surprising social media post on Tuesday.
“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,” Woods wrote on X. “This morning, Dr Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida performed a minimally invasive achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon.
“I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support.” Woods added that Stucken had said “the surgery went smoothly and we expect a full recovery”.
Woods has been beset by injury problems in recent times but also tore his right achilles in 2008. Knee and back problems were subsequently encountered by the most successful golfer of his generation. Woods partnered his son, Charlie, in the PNC Championship last December and has been a regular participant in the tech-infused golf league he launched with Rory McIlroy.
“My heart is really not into practising right now,” Woods said in March. “Once I start probably feeling a little bit better and start getting into it, I’ll start looking at the schedule.”
Woods failed to make the closing 36 holes of three of 2024’s four majors; his 2025 status is now more unclear than ever.
