Tiger Woods has surgery for a torn Achilles and is expected to miss the Masters

Tiger Woods, a 15-time major winner, underwent surgery Tuesday after rupturing his left Achilles tendon while stepping up training and practice at home.

“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 said in a post on X. “This morning, Dr. Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida performed a minimally-invasive Achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon.”

Woods added, “I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support.”

The five-time Masters champion will likely miss the season's opening major, which takes place at Augusta National Golf Club from April 10 to 13.

While Woods did not provide a timetable for his comeback to the game, the Cleveland Clinic states that most Achilles ruptures take four to six months to recover.

It's the latest setback for Woods, who has had several ailments in recent years. He had most recently stepped away from the sport to grieve the passing of his mother earlier this year, participating in TGL matches but not whole tournaments.

Woods was preparing to return from a back surgery in September that ended his 2024 season prematurely. He was not in the field for this week's Players Championship, which he has won twice. The 15-time major winner said in December that he was facing a hard road to recovery from that treatment.

“I’m not physically ready yet to compete at this level,” Woods said at the time ahead of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. “The times I have come back here, I was ready to start competing and playing again. Unfortunately, not this time. I still need to keep training to give myself the best chance going into next year and the events ahead.”

Woods last played in a tour tournament in July, missing the cut at The Open at Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland.

He has appeared in four TGL matches this season, including Jupiter Links' 9-1 loss to Atlanta Drive GC in the regular season finale on March 4.

In September 2024, Woods had lumbar spine microdecompression surgery to treat nerve impingement in the lower back. It was thought to be his sixth lower-back operation in the last ten years.

This isn't the first time Woods has significantly hurt his Achilles. At the 2010 Masters, Woods confessed that he tore his right Achilles tendon in 2008 and injured it multiple times in 2009, but continued to play.  In 2009, he won six times on the PGA Tour.

Woods sustained major injuries to his right leg, foot, and ankle in a February 2021 vehicle accident on the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, California, some 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Woods informed reporters that due to the severity of his injuries, surgeons nearly had to amputate his right leg, which he required many operations to reconstruct.

In April 2023, Woods underwent a subtalar fusion treatment to treat post-traumatic arthritis in his right ankle caused by automobile accident injuries.

Woods' career began at a record speed, but a succession of controversies, injuries, and lengthy absences from the sport wrecked his already legendary career. Woods, once regarded as the most entertaining player in the sport, still has a devoted following that throng to the course whenever he plays.