Tiger Woods is Human Afterall

By Tim Rosaforte - Golf Digest - please check out golfdigest.com for some great Tiger coverage.

When his left knee buckled at last year's PGA Championship, Tiger Woods wouldn't admit he hurt himself. It was a little embarrassing considering the limp developed after his fist-pump celebration of a birdie on the eighth hole at Southern Hills. It would have been out of character for Woods, an athlete who trains as if he were in Delta Force, a man who has parachuted out of planes and loves running around Isleworth in Orlando with a weight vest in sweat-dripping heat, to admit to a weakness. "As far as hurting myself, no. All good," Woods said that day in Tulsa after winning his 13th major championship.

Woods seemed invincible at the time, at the height of his power both mentally and physically -- but when the story broke the Tuesday after the Masters that Tiger had had his third knee surgery since 1994, it came as a shock in several ways. Although it is true Woods limped at times in tournaments during last year's PGA Tour Playoffs and took a long time getting out of the bunker on the fourth hole during the final round at Augusta National two weeks ago, few suspected anything significant. The circle of people who knew Woods had elected to get his knee "cleaned up" was so small, several of Woods' closest advisors didn't know.

Neither did Woods' Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup partner, Jim Furyk. "As a friend, I didn't realize he was hurting," Furyk said from the Verizon Heritage. "I didn't realize his knee was bothering him. I didn't realize he was having surgery. I read about it in the paper."

Others, including PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, knew Tiger was in pain. Instructor Hank Haney acknowledged that Woods was having a lot of trouble, but added, "He doesn't like to talk about stuff like that. He doesn't want to use excuses, you know?" Charles Howell III, who sees Woods on the range at Isleworth, also was aware Tiger had been favoring his left knee. "I knew he was playing through a bit of pain, but he's tough," said Howell. "He's not going to let it get in the way of him playing and trying to win the Masters."

The hush-hush operation, performed by Dr. Thomas Rosenberg in Park City, Utah, was deemed a success -- but there was some cartilage removed this time, an indication the knee is deteriorating under the torque Woods puts on it. So while his passing of Jack Nicklaus' major championship record was considered a mere formality after his win at Southern Hills just last August, there is now the haunting question in the back of everyone's mind about whether the fragile knee could become Tiger's Achilles' heel.

While Woods will be out four-to-six weeks, skipping a title defense at the Wachovia Championship and a shot at the Players, he should be fine for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June. He is expected to use the Memorial late next month as a warm-up. "It's the long run that everybody is still thinking about," said Stewart Cink at the Verizon Heritage. "It's the majors, the FedEx Cup, the Ryder Cup. He'll come back strong again like the last time."

Woods' left knee and surgery aren't strangers. In 1994, while a student at Stanford, Woods had a benign tumor removed. In late 2002 Rosenberg, an orthopedic surgeon, drained fluid from around the anterior cruciate ligament and removed a benign cyst. Woods returned to action at the 2003 Buick Invitational, won it and then two of the next three events he played. But last week's procedure raised the specter that Woods will have knee issues the rest of his career.

While the problem is not career threatening, experts are saying this will not be Tiger's last knee operation. "This is something that's a chronic issue for him," Neal ElAttrache, a noted orthopedic surgeon at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, told the Los Angeles Times. "I don't know if you've seen the last of surgical issues with Tiger's knee."

But Jim Bradley, clinical professor at the University of Pittsburgh and the lead orthopedist for the Pittsburgh Steelers, believes that while Woods will likely experience problems with his knee as long as he plays, his work ethic and level of conditioning will carry him through. "If there's anyone who's going to do well with this, it's Tiger," Bradley said. "He's at the top of the neuromuscular pyramid."

Bradley noted that Woods did miss a few drives to the right at Augusta National, which is a natural tendency when there's pain radiating from the lateral or outside portion of the knee. "You post up on that leg," Bradley said. "You load up and if you can't brace into it, if it hurts, that makes you come up and out of shots."

Woods was in Las Vegas last week, hosting Tiger Jam, but he hardly was dancing when one of his favorite groups, Van Halen, broke into some of their hits. While early reports had him walking out of surgery without crutches, already practicing his putting, the Woods who went up on stage to introduce Van Halen was walking gingerly and with the aid of crutches. "I can tell you he definitely hobbled," said Greg McLaughlin, president of the Tiger Woods Foundation. "He's taking the injury very seriously."

Hosting the concert and handling Tiger Jam's attendant meet-and-greet kept Woods on his feet more than he would have liked ideally, but there was one positive. Being in Las Vegas allowed him to check in with strength coach Keith Kleven, who is based there. According to sources, Kleven has been working with Woods for some time, rehabbing the knee and trying to get the game's best player to cut back on his running and heavy training -- not to mention high-impact activities such as parachuting and skiing ("the ballistic workouts," Bradley calls them), which Woods enjoys. The golfer has listened. He did not go on his annual Christmas-break trip to the slopes. In this period Woods' productivity has not suffered -- but his pain level has not subsided. Now begins the tediousness of rehab. As Woods said on his website, "The upside is I've been through this process before and I know how to handle it."

Finchem handled the news well, considering the absence of Woods for a month in the heart of the tour season, especially for the tour's showcase event, the Players, is less than ideal. As Cink noted, "If Tiger Woods isn't at the tournament, it changes it, no question."

But the commissioner painted a bigger picture. "Tiger is 32," Finchem said in Washington while attending a function on Capitol Hill to celebrate National Golf Day. "I want him healthy for the next 18 years, at least, and then another five or 10 years after that on the Champions Tour."

Tiger Woods Newsletter April 2008

April 25, 2008

By Tiger Woods

Needless to say, I'm a little stir crazy since my knee surgery on April 15. Although I've been through this before and understand the need for patience, I don't enjoy sitting around.

I really don't have a timetable for returning to competition. The doctors have said I should be able to play again in four-to-six weeks, but nothing is certain. I'm just going to do what they tell me to do.

At least I'm done with the crutches. I used them last week at Tiger Jam XI in Las Vegas to get around the hotel. Now, I'm wearing a knee brace and hope to start rehabbing soon.

I knew a couple of months ago I was going to have the surgery. The knee has been bugging me for a while. The only decision was do you miss the Masters or play in the Masters? I decided to play. Even if I had won, I still would have had the surgery.

I've definitely been playing in pain, but that's not why I didn't win at Augusta. I just never got comfortable with my putting stroke. As I said after the tournament, I was dragging the putter coming through which meant I couldn't start the ball on line. That's all it takes on those greens. Obviously, it was frustrating because I hit the ball well enough to win. It was just one of those things.

I called Trevor Immelman a couple days later to congratulate him. He was on the TV circuit, so I didn't actually talk to him, but I left a voice message. Nobody has ever doubted his ability. He has a beautiful golf swing and it was only a matter of time before he put it all together at a major championship.

The course was very difficult. I didn't hear as many roars as I usually hear, especially on the weekend. It did play like a U.S. Open course, which is fine. But I think the galleries are used to seeing birdies and eagles. On Sunday, the way the wind was blowing, it was tough to make pars. I hear the club might be making some changes next year to give us a break. We'll see what happens.

Tiger Jam XI was a great success. Many thanks to the sponsors, celebrities and fans for helping us raise more than $1.5 million for the Tiger Woods Foundation. Our live and silent auctions were big hits. Hot items were a 2009 Masters trip; a private Royal Canadian Pacific rail cruise; an Olympics package; and a 2008 Buick Enclave.

VAN HALEN put on a great show. Special thanks to David Lee Roth, who personally contributed $100,000 to the Tiger Woods Foundation. I also want to thank the Van Halens - Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang - who donated $100,000 to help our programs.

My sincere thanks to all the fans who have emailed their support and best wishes since my surgery. It means a lot to me. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Take care.

Tiger



TIGER'S TIP

By Tiger Woods, Golf Digest Playing Editor, Edited By Pete McDaniel and Mark Soltau

My key to straight irons

I think of hitting the ball with the back of my lead hand

There are several keys to good iron play, but none is more important than an under-standing of how the back of the lead hand works at impact. It's critical for accuracy and solid ball-striking.

Straight shots are hit with the back of your lead hand square to the target at impact. Crooked shots occur when the back of your lead hand is anything but square, because that hand mirrors the clubface.

All too often, I see my amateur partners slice or hook a routine iron shot off the planet without any idea why. Banana balls result when they hit the ball with the side of the hand leading through impact. Snappers result when they turn their hands over too much. In both cases, the back of the lead hand is compromised.

To improve your iron play, feel as if you're hitting the ball with the back of your lead hand facing the target, the shaft leaning slightly forward. This will help produce a nice divot on the forward side of the ball pointing directly at your target.

Tiger Woods Grandslam Over

Augusta, Ga. — Hope hid behind the cathedral of pines. Anticipation swarmed like the faithful Masters galleries across Augusta National's rolling hills. Excitement swept like the cold north winds that gusted and swirled among the trees Sunday in a spiteful game of hide and seek.

And history? It's still waiting along with the rest of us. Tiger Woods videos didn't make history Sunday. He didn't write a new chapter about coming from behind to win a major championship for the first time. His charge never materialized. Contrary to rampant speculation among the media, there will be no Grand Slam this year. If you were waiting for Tiger to win his fifth Masters, you might as well be waiting for Godot.

Trevor Immelman captured this Masters and did it fairly easily, heading to the home stretch with a six-shot lead over the closing holes. Even after an ugly double bogey at the 16th hole, he could still afford a bogey-bogey finish. He parred in and won by three.

Woods made a 72nd-hole birdie that lifted him to second place. Tiger's day was summed up in that moment on the final green. After a day of missing nearly every putt that mattered, he rolled in a birdie putt that didn't matter at all. Woods gave it a disgusted wave, as if he were swatting away an offensive insect. Tiger will not be mocked, not even by a birdie putt.

This is the year Tiger Woods video was supposed to win the Grand Slam. He has been on such a dominant run that it is almost shocking when he doesn't win. On Sunday, he never made so much as a move on an inexperienced pack of Masters challengers. As it turned out, a round of 69 would've tied Immelman. Woods shot a frustrating 72. His entire week was frustrating, as a matter of fact.

This Masters was there for the taking and Woods wasn't able to take it. Stewart Cink, who tied for third, was paired with Woods in the final round.

"He still has his dramatic flair," Cink said. "It's amazing, he goes from kind of struggling after a pretty haphazard bogey from the middle of the 10th fairway, and makes that long putt on 11 and all of a sudden, he looks like there's no way he's going to lose. You can see it. It's like an aura around him. You can feel that he thinks he's going to win. Then he takes it right at the flag on 12. You think, gosh, he's going to birdie every hole from here on out.

"But he just didn't. That's the way Augusta National is. He hit a lot of good shots, but good shots don't always end up close here."

This one should bother Tiger Woods video for a while. It is his third runner-up finish in the last five major championships, and this one, much more than the others, could easily have been a victory. Something simply wasn't right. It was his putting.

"I didn't putt well all week," Woods said after Sunday's round. "I kept dragging the blade. I wasn't releasing it, wasn't getting the overspin like I normally do. Out here, if you're not starting the ball perfectly on line, you're not going to make any putts. I tried to get it going, tried to hook my putts, anything to get the thing rolling properly. I just didn't quite have it this week."

Tiger Goes Under For Chop

The U.S. Open figured to be the closest to a sure thing for Tiger Woods in the majors this year, but maybe not anymore.

Two days after his quest for a Grand Slam fizzled at the Masters, Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for the second time in five years and will miss at least four weeks while he recovers.

The announcement, which Woods made Tuesday night on his Web site, was a surprise to everyone except those around him.

“He’s been having a lot of trouble,” swing coach Hank Haney said. “He doesn’t talk about stuff like that. He doesn’t want to use excuses, you know? I don’t think it affected his play. It affected his practice a little bit.”

The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah, by Thomas Rosenberg, who also operated on Woods’ left knee in December 2002. Woods also had surgery in 1994 on his left knee to remove a benign tumor.

“I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters,” Woods said on his Web site. “The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can.”

But he will not be able to defend his title in two weeks at the Wachovia Championship. And he most likely will miss THE PLAYERS Championship the week after, one of only three non-majors he has never missed since turning pro. Provided rehab goes as expected, Woods hopes to return at the Memorial on May 29.

The U.S. Open begins June 12 at Torrey Pines, where Woods has won six times in the Buick Invitational. Such is his dominance on the cliffside course north of San Diego that when he opened with a 67 on the South Course this year, a caddie standing behind the 18th green remarked, “He just won two tournaments with one round.”

Indeed, Woods went on to an eight-shot victory in his 2008 debut, the first of four straight victories this year.

But it was not necessarily a pain-free affair.

“Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended,” said Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG. “Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible.”

Steinberg said the surgery repaired cartilage damage. The 2002 surgery drained fluid from around the anterior cruciate ligament and removed a benign cyst.

Woods was limping and wincing toward the end of the ‘02 season, and it was not surprising to find out he had surgery that kept him out two months, most of that over the holidays.

This time, it only made sense upon reviewing the past nine months.

Woods stumbled and grimaced ever so slightly at Southern Hills last August in the PGA Championship, when he chipped in for birdie behind the eighth green in the final round and backpedaled for a fist pump. In the final two PGA TOUR events, in Chicago and Atlanta, he occasionally would press his left foot against a cooler, presumably to stretch his knee.

Tiger Woods Video

In talking of his chances of winning a fifth green jacket, Tiger Woods video went through the names of some of those beneath him in the rankings - players such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Adam Scott. "A lot of these guys are playing well," he noted, encouragingly.

Yet, though they would not sniff at such a Tiger Woods video mention, the above cannot feel too happy at the relative lack of attention they are getting elsewhere. Indeed, the only golfer whom the TV pundits see fit to compare with the world No 1 is not even in Augusta. The player, of course, is Lorena Ochoa, who has matched Woods' 2008 US tour record in winning three times in four starts and is actually ahead of him in having got her first major, the Kraft Nabisco, under her belt.

Pressure, what pressure? Tiger Woods video appears calm and relaxed
Woods has not just spoken of winning one major this year but four. "It's easily within reason," were the words he used at the start of the season and when, yesterday, he was asked if he wished to amend them in any way, he shook his head. As to how he could feel so comfortable with such a remark, he explained, "Because I've won four in a row before." He was talking of the so-called Tiger Slam when he won the US Open, the Open, the PGA and the Masters in that order.

Though he captured the Masters by a yawning 12-shot margin as a 21-year-old, Woods sets much store by the experience he has built up across the years. Just as Zach Johnson, the defending champion, said that he would be "like a sponge" in soaking up the stories at last night's champions' dinner, so Tiger Woods video made mention of how much he has picked up from his predecessors. He had studied them on Masters' golf videos and he had played any number of practice rounds with past champions.

Tiger Woods video was recalling his first visit to the club and the shock to his system that were the slick and sloping greens. In his first ever competitive round, he took a first putt on the first green and needed a wedge for his next shot. "I'd never," he said, "seen anything like them." Once again, he talked of the benefits of having been to Augusta over and over again, "Experience slows them down for you," he suggested.

The rough which has crept in during the last decade has been a mixed blessing as far as Woods is concerned. On the one hand, it is stopping some of his more errant shots from rolling in among the pine cones. On the other, it can make it difficult to hit precisely the right distance with a second.

Woods gave up playing in the annual Wednesday Par Three competition in 2004. For a long time, he found it fun but today he views it as a distraction. Padraig Harrington, on the other hand, sees things a little differently. He has won it twice and, though no one who has ever captured this miniature championship has ever gone on to win the Masters, he says, lightly, that if he were to win it for a third time, it would have to be a good omen.

Harrington, who says it is "slightly different" coming into this Masters as the owner of a major, is intent on not being too focused. "You have to make the effort to try and enjoy it all," he said.

Justin Rose, the top-ranked European, set out with nothing more than a sand-wedge, a lob wedge and a putter for the nine holes he played yesterday. To Rose, who finished fifth here last year and was in the top 12 in all four majors, the emphasis has to be on the short game, particularly at holes, such as the 11th, where even a good second can slip from the green's right-hand side.

Have your say on fifty great memories from Augusta
Meanwhile, what of Jeev Milkha Singh, Wen Chong Liang and Pryad Marksaeng, whose invitations prompted Colin Montgomerie to suggest that they had been asked more for commercial reasons than their sporting prowess.

The trio would not appear to have been fazed by the Scot's remarks. Yesterday, when Marksaeng was asked, via an interpreter, if he was excited to be here, his answer was one of "Nid Noy" which, apparently, means much the same as "Not half."

Liang, for his part, will need all the calm of the Orient as he plays alongside Rory Sabbatini, whose loudmouth approach has made him more than a little unpopular among his peers. Tiger Woods Video

Those who have to beg on UK streets will often have a dog at their side by way of attracting sympathy. Maybe Sabbatini was thinking along the same lines when he decided to bring his miniature dachshund to Augusta.