Tiger Woods stunned the sports world with his Tuesday announcement of surgery that will prevent him from playing in this year’s Masters. It’s the latest in a line of injuries that are arriving with increasing frequency and severity. The 2014 Masters will mark the fifth major Woods has missed due to injury. In 2008, he missed the British Open and the PGA Championship after knee surgery, while in 2011 he missed the U.S. and British Opens because of lingering Achilles issues suffered that year at Augusta.
In just the last few years, Woods has suffered the following significant injuries:
June 2008: Days after winning the U.S. Open, his most recent major win, Woods undergoes surgery to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
December 2008: Woods ruptures his right Achilles tendon.
May 2010: Woods withdraws from the Players Championship with neck inflammation.
April 2011: Woods suffers minor left knee trauma while shooting out of pine straw beneath the Eisenhower Tree at Augusta.
May 2011: Woods withdraws from the Players again after a collection of leg injuries becomes too much to handle; the injuries will cost him spots in the next two majors.
March 2012: Woods withdraws from the WGC-Cadillac for what he believes is a left Achilles injury.
August 2013: Woods collapses on the course at the Barclays from back pain, but remains in the tournament and finishes second.
March 2014: Woods withdraws from the Honda Classic, citing lower back spasms.
March 2014: With his back still not fully healed, Woods decides not to participate in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, an event he’s won eight times.
April 2014: Woods undergoes back surgery that will cost him a spot in the Masters for the first time in 20 years.
Woods has not yet spoken to the status of his health beyond Augusta. But if he’s missing an event that’s clearly among his favorites, and his best chances for a major, this is a major health concern.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter.
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