Tiger Woods suffers ruptured Achilles tendon

Tiger Woods has confirmed he has suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, undergoing surgery on Tuesday.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Woods said: "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.

"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. 'The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery,' added Dr. Stucken.

"I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support."

The news is a huge blow to Woods' legions of fans who were hoping to see Woods tee it up at Augusta National in a month's time for the US Masters. Woods is now certain to miss that and will likely miss the remaining three majors this year.

Woods was eligible to compete at the Players Championship this week but declined to enter.

Woods was also expected to appear at the Genesis Invitational, the tournament he hosts, but following the death of his mother Kultida, the 15-time major champion said he needed more time before playing again.

Fans have seen Woods in action at the inaugural TGL season in the first two months of the year, though his Jupiter Links failed to make it to the play-offs.

Naturally, questions will be asked as to when we'll see Woods playing professional golf next.

He aimed to play the four majors and a handful of other tournaments as his body allowed, but while the severity of his Achilles injury hasn't been confirmed, it typically involves upwards of six months of rehabilitation.

Although Woods's statement revealed the surgery was successful, he is still a 49-year-old who's undergone numerous surgeries on countless injuries to his legs and back, and this latest setback may mean we don't see Woods until after his 50th birthday on 30th December.

Liam Williams

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