Tiger Woods announced Aug. 27 through his social media accounts that he underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure to repair damaged cartilage in his left knee.
The procedure was performed last week, as the top 30 in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings gathered in Atlanta for the Tour Championship. Woods finished 42nd in the season-long race, with his season ending at the BMW Championship the week prior at Medinah Country Club near Chicago.
Dr. Very Cooley, who is based in Park City, Utah, was the surgeon.
"I would like to thank Dr. Cooley and his team," said Woods. "I'm walking now and hope to resume practice in the next few weeks. I look forward to traveling and playing in Japan in October."
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) August 27, 2019
Cooley has performed surgeries on Woods in the past and feels confident in Woods' health beyond the clean-up procedure.
"I expect Tiger to make a full recovery," said Dr. Cooley. "We did what was needed and also examined the entire knee. There were no additional problems."
This surgery represents
Tiger Woods has already committed to begin his 2019-2020 PGA Tour season at the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan in October. Woods is slated to compete in a made-for-TV skins game in Japan on the same trip. After the Japan jaunt, Woods will host the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas from Dec. 4-7 before flying to Royal Melbourne to Australia to captain the American team against captain Ernie Els and the International team in the Presidents Cup. Woods could still conceivably name himself as one of his own captain's picks and compete in the matches.
Tiger Woods surgery timeline
- December 1994: Woods has surgery on left knee to remove two benign tumors and scar tissue.
- Dec. 13, 2002: Woods has surgery on left knee to remove fluid inside and outside the ACL, as well remove benign cysts from his left knee.
- August 2007: Woods ruptures the ACL in his left knee while running on a golf course after the British Open but elects to avoid surgery.
- April 15, 2008: Woods has arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair cartilage damage after the Masters.
- May 2008: Woods told he has two stress fractures of the left tibia, and Woods decides to compete in US Open.
- June 24, 2008: A week after winning the 2008 US Open effectively on one leg, Woods has surgery to repair the ACL in his left knee by using a tendon from his right thigh. Other knee cartilage damage is repaired.
- Nov. 27, 2009: Hospitalized overnight with a sore neck and a cut lip after crashing his SUV he was driving into a fire hydrant and a tree.
- March 31, 2014: Woods undergoes first microdiscectomy surgery for a pinched nerve in his back.
- Sept. 18, 2015: Woods underwent a second microdiscectomy surgery to remove a disc fragment that was pinching his nerve.
- October 2015: Woods has a secondary procedure to "relieve discomfort" in his back.
- April 20, 2017: Woods undergoes a fourth back surgery, a spinal fusion to alleviate pain in his leg, back and neck.
- August 2019: Woods has arthroscopic surgery to repair damaged cartilage in left knee.
