Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods announced Tuesday he had undergone successful surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left leg following an injury sustained during training for next month’s Masters. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo
March 11 (UPI) — Five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods underwent successful surgery Tuesday to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left leg, one month before the first major championship of the season.
Woods, 49, made the announcement Tuesday in a statement on X, saying as he increased his training leading up to next month’s Masters, he “felt a sharp pain.”
“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.
“This morning, Dr. Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Fla., performed a minimally-invasive Achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon. ‘The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery,'” added Dr. Stucken.”
Woods, who has won 15 professional major golf championships during his career, said Tuesday he was back home in Jupiter, Fla, to recover and focus on rehab. He did not say when he would return to competition. Recovery from a ruptured Achilles typically takes four to six months, which could take him out for the season. The 2025 Masters Tournament is scheduled for April 10-13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
Last month, Woods logged one of the “most embarrassing moments” of his career in Jupiter’s TGL loss to New York.
“One of the most embarrassing moments of my golfing career just happened,” Woods said on the ESPN broadcast Feb. 18, following the 10-3 setback in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “I just screwed up. That was embarrassing.”
The match was Woods’ first since the Feb. 4 death of his mother, Kultida. He withdrew from last month’s 2025 Genesis Invitational, the tournament he hosts annually, because he said he needed more time to process his loss.
Last September, Woods underwent micro decompression surgery on his lower back in what is believed to be his sixth back surgery in a decade. Woods injured his right Achilles tendon in 2008 and 2009. The golf legend also suffered serious injuries to his right leg, foot and ankle in a 2021 car crash in Pacific Palisades, Calif., which required several surgeries.