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Tiger: I can't even walk, let alone think of playing
David Smith8 Jul 2008
Tiger Woods has revealed for the first time a remarkable litany of before-and-after agonies associated with the knee operation that is likely to keep him off the golf course until well into next year.
Woods said the pain from stress fractures associated with a cartilage complaint in his left knee meant that on the practice range he could hit only a handful of balls at a time ahead of last month's US Open.
That makes his play-off victory over Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines all the more remarkable because the 32-year-old is renowned for putting in hours of practice ahead of a major tournament.
Since undergoing surgery, in which a tendon from his right leg was inserted in his left Anterior Cruciate Ligament, the world No1 has been able to sleep only an hour at a time. And he admitted he has no idea when he will be fit enough to return to competition.
Woods said: "For me to think about playing golf, that's so far away. I don't know how my body is going to heal from this, and when I can return.
"I'm just looking forward to walking again and putting weight on this leg for the first time. That's actually a way off."
The American has been hit hard by the frustrations of enforced inactivity. He said: "It's not easy for me to do. I like to move and keep it going, but I don't have a choice.
But I'm on the good side now and I can start sleeping more than an hour at times, and can get a little bit more rest which is good. I've been laid up pretty much every day all day, moving from the bedroom to the couch and back to the bedroom and maybe a few bathroom stops along the way. That's pretty much how my day goes."
As for the US Open, Woods conceded he still does not know how he pulled off his 14th major title - which leaves him just four short of the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus - having already undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee immediately after the Masters in April.
"That's one of the things that we can't really figure out," he said. "I could hit balls for probably two, three, four, five at a time and then I had to sit down in the cart because the stress fractures were giving me some pain.
"Once the pain subsided, I could hit two, three, four, more balls and that was pretty much my day and I would go home. That's how I got ready for the Open.
"But at least I was going to a golf course I was comfortable on. I knew all of the breaks on the greens. I just needed to get to the green."
