TOP THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT Tiger Injury:

1. Tiger Woods will undergo reconstructive ACL surgery on his left knee and will miss the rest of the 2008 season.

2. It was also revealed that Woods will need time to rehab a double stress fracture of his left tibia that was discovered last month just before the Memorial Tournament.

3. Tiger will miss his FIRST major as a professional at the British Open next month. It will also be the FIRST major that has not had Tiger Woods in the field since the 1996 PGA Championship              (Tiger turned pro at the Greater Milwaukee Open Aug. 29, 1996, 3 weeks after the PGA that year).

4. Tiger Woods will have played in 46 consecutive majors since turning pro before missing his first Major; Jack Nicklaus, the all-time leader in Majors won with 18 (Woods is second with 14), played in 146 consecutive Majors before missing his first Major in 1998 (Nicklaus's 1st season on TOUR as a pro was 1962).

5. Tiger Woods will also miss the Ryder Cup in September. The U.S. has won the Ryder Cup just once in the last 6 events.


TIGER WOODS STATEMENT ON tigerwoods.com:
"I know much was made of my knee throughout the last week, and it was important to me that I disclose my condition publicly at an appropriate time. I wanted to be very respectful of the USGA and their incredibly hard work, and make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open.

Now, it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors, follow through with this surgery, and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee.

"While I am obviously disappointed to have to miss the remainder of the season, I have to do the right thing for my long-term health and look forward to returning to competitive golf when my doctors agree that my knee is sufficiently healthy. My doctors assure me with the proper rehabilitation and training, the knee will be strong and there will be no long-term effects."


TIGER WOODS KNEE SURGERY/INJURY TIMELINE:
1994:           Underwent surgery on left knee to remove benign tumor (while at Stanford).
Dec. 12, 2002:  Underwent surgery to drain fluid outside and inside of ACL and removed several benign cysts in left knee; missed first 5 events of PGA TOUR season in 2003.
July 2007:              Tore the ACL in left knee while jogging at home after the British Open; elects not to have surgery and plays in WGC Bridgestone Invitational in first week of Aug. (won                         event).
April 15, 2008:         Underwent arthroscopic surgery on left knee, 2 days after finishing 2nd in the Masters. Did not play again until the U.S. Open, starting June 12
June 18, 2008:  Announced he will need reconstructive ACL surgery on left knee and will miss rest of 2008 season (also announced he had suffered double stress fracture of left tibia in                        May).