Woods’ chances of returning to elite level rated ‘less than 50pc’
Tiger Woods has less than a 50 per cent chance of playing professional golf again after shattering his right leg in a car crash. That is the expert opinion of one of Britain’s leading specialists, and his comments will intensify the concern throughout the golf world.
As details emerged of the mysterious accident in Los Angeles – in which the 15-time major winner careered through a central reservation and rolled across the opposite side of the freeway before smashing into a ravine – Nick Cullen, the consultant foot and ankle specialist at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, outlined the challenges for Woods.
“It’s a very serious injury,” Cullen told The Daily Telegraph. “The bone has been broken in multiple levels and has broken through the skin. The break has gone into the ankle, so it affects the joints of the ankle as well. This would probably be classified as a limb-threatening injury. I don’t think you’d be talking about amputating this immediately, but that’s the potential.
“In order for him to make a full recovery, he’d need to regain a nearnormal range of movement in his ankle and in his foot. Very often, even if the bones heal up, there’s quite a lot of damage to the muscles and the tissues. I would say he has less than a 50 per cent chance of playing professional golf again.”
His friends and colleagues will disagree. World-renowned coach Pete Cowen told The Telegraph that it would have been “lights out for his career” if the injuries were sustained on his left leg. “But because it is right leg, the recovery being well, he has the expertise to fashion a workable swing,” Cowen added.
Dustin Johnson, the world No 1, said: “I hated to see that news, but
Ben Hogan came back to win after his crash [in 1949, when doctors told him he would never walk again, but who went on to win six more majors]. If anyone can do it, it’s TW.”
However, Rory Mcilroy warned against unrealistic expectations. “He’s not Superman,” said the Northern Irishman. “He’s a human being at the end of the day and he’s already been through so much, so at this stage everyone should just be grateful he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad. Golf is so far from the equation right now.
“I think we’re all sort of heading towards that day Tiger wasn’t going to be a part of the game. I’m not saying that that was soon. Before this accident, he was hopefully going to come back and play this year.”
Woods remained in Harbor-ucla Medical Center last night after what his management termed “extensive surgery”. It will be a huge relief to the Woods camp that LA police announced he would not be facing criminal charges. “It was purely an accident,” said a spokesperson.
Woods has a history of back problems and received therapy for an addiction to painkilling medications as recently as 2017. An investigation is still under way, but “it could take weeks to finish”.
According to a witness, before the crash, Woods almost hit another car and was “agitated and impatient”. Woods was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to hospital. Rods, screws and pins were inserted into his shin and ankle during emergency surgery. In a statement released in the early hours of yesterday, chief medical officer Anish Mahajan said Woods had suffered “significant orthopaedic injuries” to his right lower leg, with “trauma to the muscle and soft tissue”.
“He is currently awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room,” a statement posted on Woods’s Twitter account said.
Police revealed that fire crews used an axe to pull him from the wreckage through the windscreen. “It was very fortunate that Mr Woods was able to come out of this alive,” said a spokesperson.
No other cars were believed to be involved. Sheriff Alex Villanueva reported that the steep and winding stretch of road “has a high frequency of accidents” and suggested that the distance the vehicle travelled before leaving the roadway, with no visible skid marks, pointed to the car “going at a relatively greater speed than normal”.