Tiger Woods to Miss Major Golf Event After Surgery

Tiger Woods will have to miss a big golf tournament due to the surgery he had on his ankle. It was recently announced that the 47-year-old golf legend will not participate in the 2023 PGA Championship at the Oak Hill East Course in Rochester, New York starting on May 18. Woods underwent a subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture. The injuries are from the car accident Woods was involved in back in February 2021.

"The first goal is to recover and lead a much more enjoyable day-to-day life," Woods agent, Mark Steinberg, said in a release, per the Democrat & Chronicle. Woods last competed in the Masters earlier this month but dropped out of the tournament due to his injuries. Since the accident, Woods has played sparingly, and it's not clear when he'll return to action. 

At the Masters, Woods talked about being lucky to still have his leg as it could have been amputated. "I'm very lucky to have this leg," Woods said. "It's mine. Yes, it has been altered and there's some hardware in there, but it's still mine. It has been tough and will always be tough. The ability and endurance of what my leg will do going forward will never be the same. I understand that."

Dr. Michael Maloney, the Chief of Sports Medicine at URMC, spoke to RochesterFirst.com about why the injury will prevent Woods from competing in the PGA Championship. "The whole point of doing the fusion is if those joints are now not able to move, the pain should kind of go away. So hopefully he'll be able to walk more comfortably," he said. "Now the downside of the fusion is he'll lose motion in his foot. And in particular, it's the motion that allows the foot to kind of rotate back and forth. So though he may be more comfortable with walking and have more endurance, the golf swing may still be a challenge for him long term."

Woods is no stranger to having success at the PGA Championship as he has won the major tournament four times. He competed in the event last year and ended up withdrawing after posting the worst score for the event of his career.