Capelle On Golf

Imagine you’re a huge Tiger Woods fan (maybe you are). You informed your boss six months ago that you needed to take off on May 5-11. He agreed. You made your travel plans, bought your tickets, and were all set to see your hero play for the first time at The PLAYERS.

Then you log onto PGATour.com on Tuesday and discover that Tiger’s had knee surgery and is going to be sidelined for at least 4-6 weeks. Too bad for you. No need to go into all of the ramifications. Suffice to say that Tiger’s just hit you with a major bummer.

Did it have to be this way? Not really, especially in light of a mountain of evidence that makes it clear that Woods should have had this procedure done months ago, and not in the heart of the golf season.

A History of Knee Trouble
Let’s back track to December 12, 2002 when Woods had his second surgery on his left knee. To say that his recovery was successful is a huge understatement. He stepped to the first tee at the Buick Invitational on February 13, 63 days later, and walked away with a W on Sunday. So much for lengthy rehabs. The lesson: Woods came away from this experience with complete confidence in modern medicine, a viewpoint he would repeat following his most recent surgery.

Woods changed instructors in March, 2004, replacing long time coach Butch Harmon with Hank Haney, at the time Mark O’Meara’s instructor. Under Haney’s guidance Tiger worked exceptionally hard to learn a new swing. All the while he was playing his usual schedule of tournaments and engaging in his normal exercise routine – one that included lengthy runs, often in the company of his wife Elin.

Over the next several years Woods adhered to his athletic lifestyle, one that would take a toll on a healthy athlete, much less one with a chronic knee problem. One surgeon likened his chronic knee to “jumpers knee.” As a LA Lakers’ fan I’ve witnessed Kobe Bryant deal with this for years. It’s a problem that he’s learned to live with, and one that’s never going away. And neither is Woods’ knee problem according Dr. Neal ElAttrache, an orthopedic surgeon at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. In the LA Times he said:

“This is something that’s a chronic issue for him,” said ElAttrache. “I don’t know if you’ve seen the last of surgical issues with Tiger’s knee.”

Woods’ surgery in late 2002 was a success, but according to medical experts his left knee is a chronic problem, one that stood a good chance of resurfacing over time. Nearly a year ago, as I reported in a previous post, his knee problems had resurfaced again.

The Knee Problem Resurfaces
When asked about his troublesome knee after The PLAYERS in 2007, Woods said, “It’s just wear and tear. All you do is keep training through it, keep running, keep doing your sprints, keep lifting, keep busting your butt and it’ll get better and stronger, and if not, get it replaced and off you go again.” This rather off-hand remark to having knee replacement surgery seems odd considering the impact an artificial knee could have on his game. Then, when queried as to whether his knee was hurting when he was playing or just walking, he said, “All of the above.”

Four and a half years after his surgery in late ’02, Woods sought medical counsel again on his knee. According to his long time agent Mark Steinberg, “Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended.”

The wear and tear, as Tiger called it, had extracted its toll as long ago as last May, and surgery had been recommended shortly thereafter. Still, Tiger waited as the pain escalated until it got to the point where he could no longer put off the inevitable surgery. Given his long history with his knee and the pain that began no later than May of 2007, it seems rather amazing that he wouldn’t have had it done last year.

Why Did He Wait
Money was not an issue as it would be for the average Joe. He enjoyed his longest off season last year, so time off from work was also not a concern. He had little to fear from going under the knife because Dr. Timothy Rosenberg of Park City, Utah, would be his surgeon, and they had a history of success. Furthermore, arthroscopic surgery is a safe and reliable operation, so there was very little risk of any ill effects to his game, at least over the near term. According to ElAttrache, “He’s in world-class athletic shape. He’s got everything going for him.”

“Considering how well he was doing before the procedure, there’s no reason to think there will be any lingering after-effects,” said Ronald Grelsamer, a knee specialist in the Department of Orthopedics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Woods was suffering no later than last May, the knee is a chronic problem, and he had every reason to be confident in the required procedure. The only question was not if, but when. As it turns out, his timing was terrible. Woods is an industry all by himself. He’s paid over $90 million a year from his sponsors to basically go out and play golf better than anyone else in the world. He’s not paid that to sit on his butt in rehab.

When Tiger shows up and contends, the golf world is a happy place. It is easy to imagine the gleeful smiles on the executives at Gillette, Nike, Buick, Gatorade and his assorted sponsors when he strolls down the fairways on the leaderboard while adding to their unit sales. PGA Tour events with Tiger in their field feel lucky to have him because he guarantees the success of their event, both on TV and at the gate. And when he doesn’t play, viewers tune out in droves. At Fox Sports, readers were asked: Do you watch golf on TV if Tiger isn’t playing. 58% said no.

Tiger’s Secretive Nature
On March 6th I proudly announced Tiger’s secret schedule, knowing full well (or so I thought) that he must have been toying with his fans by not listing tournaments 6 through 8 below. He is the defending champion at the Wachovia, he always plays in The PLAYERS, and the only year he missed The Memorial was in 2006 when his father died.

Now, as I remove the egg from my face, I can see why those events were not listed. His knee problem had been developing for some time, and perhaps he knew he’d be dropping his surgery bombshell on the golf world, so he kept these mainstays off his schedule.

Tiger Woods’ 2008 PGA Tour Schedule
1 Buick Inv. (Jan. 24-27)
2 WGC – Acc. (Feb.20-24)
3 Arnold Palmer Inv. (Mar. 13-16)
4 WGC – CA (Mar. 20-23)
5 Masters (Apr. 10-13)
6 Wachovia Ch. (May 1-4)
7 The PLAYERS (May 8-11)
8 The Memorial (May 29-June 1)
9 U.S. Open (June 12-15)

In hindsight, Woods might have tipped his hand with these omissions, but no one had a clue that he had other plans for those dates. “At the Masters, there was no hint, not a whisper he was planning to get his knee worked on. Insiders were blindsided by the news when it broke late Tuesday,” said Ron Green of The Charlotte Observer. Even Haney, his instructor, didn’t know of his plans.

But rest assured that Woods prepared for his surgery well in advance with the precision of a military maneuver. It takes time to discuss plans for surgery and rehab, and to so precisely schedule his operation with a top surgeon that he would have maximum time to recover for the U.S. Open.

The Ripple Affect
Whenever Tiger Woods sneezes, there are ripples across the game of golf. He should know that better than anyone else. For every action he takes, there a 1,001 reactions. And not all positive. With a whole industry riding on his back, Woods went on his merry way, apparently with little regard to the impact his actions would have on the sport. With the benefit of time, it could become apparent that delaying this surgery could go down as one of the biggest blunders of his career.

It is going to cost the golf industry a small fortune. The fans are going see him two or three less times than usual. And his corporate sponsors will not get all that they paid for because his primary value to them is his presence on the golf course.

Woods Hurts Himself By Waiting
Worst of all, by delaying this necessary procedure until now, Woods has put his 2008 season in jeopardy. Sure, he might come back as strong as ever, just as he did in early 2003. But maybe he won’t. In spite of the wonders of modern medicine, his return to top form could take longer that he anticipates.

Conventional wisdom believes that Tiger is a lock to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines because he’s won the Buick Invitational four years in a row. On the way to his eight shot victory in January, however, Woods hit less than half of the fairways off the tee. That’s not going to work at the Open. “It’s going to be a totally different course,” said Woods in referring to the Open set-up.

The game he played at the Masters is also not well suited for the U.S. Open, a tournament he has not won since 2002. To win at the USGA’s version of the monstrously long Torrey Pines, Woods must consistently drive the ball long and straight, a shot that’s not a regular part of his repertoire.

His difficulties with the driver will be compounded should he begin to favor his knee, or in the event that he can’t trust it with the kind of swing he’ll need to hit the ball 300-320 yards off the tee. Tiger will also need to putt better and recover from the bunkers a whole lot better than he did at Augusta.

As a result of delaying his surgery till last Tuesday, Tiger will be working on his body for a while when he should be working full time to bring his game up to U.S. Open standards.

Woods is a fanatic about preparing for tournaments. In Golf International he talked about getting ready for competition.

I’ve always enjoyed practicing. I really didn’t like to play much as a kid…didn’t really like it that much unless it was tournament. It was all about preparing to win a tournament and I love that.

Unless his body tells him otherwise, Woods will work extra hard to make up for lost time as the U.S. Open nears. That’s his nature. But he will be walking a fine line. If he overdoes it in practice, he could take himself out of the tournament, and maybe his year.