Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Ruptures his Achilles Tendon

Golfing legend Tiger Woods has ruptured his left achilles tendon and just had surgery to repair the tear. Dr. Charlton Stucken of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida performed his minimally invasive surgical repair.

Tiger Woods Ruptured his Achilles Tendon

The injury occurred at home while Tiger Woods was exercising. On Twitter/X, Tiger just announced the following:

“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. 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. “The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery,” added Dr. Stucken. I am back home now and plan to focus on my recovery and rehab, thank you for all the support.”

Tiger Woods Achilles Tendon Rupture
Golfer Tiger Woods has ruptured his achilles tendon. He had surgery to repair the tear and is now recovering at home.

Dr. Stucken said that the surgery went smoothly and he expects a full recovery from Mr. Woods. Over the years, the star golfer has had numerous injuries to his legs and back. Most of them required surgical repair followed by extensive recovery regimens. In September 2024, Mr. Woods had a microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in the lower back. This was the sixth surgery on his lower back over the past decade.

In addition, Mr. Woods was involved in a major car accident in 2021 after which he underwent surgery and a year-long recovery process. The legendary golfer has won 15 of Golf’s Major Championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus, who won 18.

Mr. Woods has not competed in any PGA Tour event this season following the death of his mother (Kultida Woods) on February 4, 2025.

On this blog, I have covered achilles tendon ruptures and injuries to numerous athletes, including NBA and NFL players. Most get them in their 20s and 30s while playing seriously. Mr. Woods is currently 49 years old, and has likely already reached the end of his professional PGA Tour career. His next stop will be the age 50 and over PGA Tour Champions (formerly called the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour).

Middle Age Achilles Injuries

Two 40-Plus Year Olds Rupture Their Achilles Tendons

After we cross the age of 40, we must be especially careful when making sudden forceful motions and change of directions in relation to our legs. The 40-50 age group is probably the most susceptible one when it comes to rupturing their achilles tendons during physical activity. At this age, we still think of ourselves as physcially fit and capable, just like we were in our 30s. However, this is not true and our body is no longer as flexible as it used to be, especially our legs. There is a reason that virtually all great athletes and sportspersons retire by the age of 40.

Below are two examples of this situations. First, a 49-year old fan named Jim Kale was in Thailand and widely celebrating the Minnesota Vikings last second 2018 NFL playoffs victory and ruptured his achilles tendon in the process. Interestingly enough, he is using crutches and might not be aware of high quality knee scooters.

In 2016, 41-year old American fitness fanatic Tiffany Van Dyke was exercising intensively and suffered a painful achilles tendon rupture midway into her routine. She was recording the whole thing and you can even hear the loud pop sound of the rupture in the  below video:

Knee Scooter, Knee Walker, Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman on a Knee Scooter

I have covered and reviewed knee scooters (also called knee walkers) in detail on this website. The contraption helped me tremendously in the past after I ruptured my achilles tendon. And it was much easier to use in comparison to crutches.

A few weeks ago, NFL superstar Richard Sherman ruptured his right achilles tendon. Shortly after having surgery, he was seen on the playing field sidelines roaming around on a knee scooter:

An article from Forbes magazine analyzes Mr. Sherman’s injury, and mentions how many people who rupture their achilles tendons come back a step slower.

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