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For those hoping for clarification as to when they can expect to next see Tiger Woods on the golf course, stop eyeballing your watch.
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And your calendar.
Woods said Monday that it's highly unlikely he'll be on the grounds this week at the PGA Tour's AT&T National, an event he technically hosts, and wouldn't begin to speculate on when he might return from the major reconstructive knee surgery he had last week in Utah.
So the answer on both the short- and long-range fronts is: Don't hold your breath.
"As far as long-term, I really don't know," Woods said in a teleconference to promote this week's event. "Everybody heals at a different rate. To be honest, nobody knows."
Woods noted that different athletes and sports figures who have undergone similar procedures have taken anywhere between six to 12 months to return to competition. Woods had a ligament from his right hamstring area spliced into his left knee last Tuesday.
Woods almost completely ruled out any appearance at the second-year AT&T at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C., because doctors advised him not to fly. Woods said his knee swelled when flying from Utah.
Though few knew it at the time, Woods won the U.S. Open two weeks ago with a blown anterior cruciate ligament and two hairline cracks in his left tibia. He will miss the British Open in July and won't be able to defend his title at the PGA Championship in August, marking his first missed majors since his rookie year in 1996, when he wasn't yet eligible to play in the PGA.
"It's very disappointing to be laid up," he said.
Woods had two surgeries on his left knee before his two procedures this season. Woods said he ruptured the ACL while jogging on a golf course last fall -- he ran on the cross-country team in high school. He won the PGA Championship and FedEx Cup titles, then worked hard to build up the muscle groups in the surrounding areas in the offseason, but the knee became worse this spring. He had arthroscopic surgery April 15 after finishing second in the Masters.
Though he didn't make the notion public, the idea was for the April surgery to buy him enough time to finish the 2008 year, at which point he planned to get the ACL reconstruction done. Then he fractured his tibia during while working out in May and attempting to rehab from the post-Masters surgery. When an X-ray and MRI revealed the fractures, his doctor told him to stop playing and advised that he spend three weeks on crutches.
Instead, two weeks later, Woods stubbornly won the U.S. Open in a 91-hole marathon. He had good reason to gut out the pain.
"I decided to make the U.S. Open my last event, whether I made the cut or not," he said.
It remains unclear exactly how the two tibia breaks occurred -- Woods fielded questions for only about 20 minutes Monday.
Woods quickly ruled out making an appearance at the Ryder Cup matches this fall in Louisville, Ky., even if U.S. captain Paul Azinger extended an invitation.
"I'm not part of that team," Woods said. "It's about those 12 guys, not about me. I'm just not part of that crew."
When he does return, Woods expects to be in fighting trim, to be sure. He sounded openly optimistic about his future, which should be enough to scare any of his contemporaries. Woods won seven of his past 10 events on a bad leg.
"My left knee has been sore for 10 or 12 years," he said. "It'll be nice to have a healthy leg."
