Tiger Woods: A glorious career blighted by injury and shame

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Injuries and pain have plagued Tiger Woods throughout his record-setting career, at times keeping him out of competition for long stretches. Two months after his fifth back surgery, the legendary golfer, now 45, suffered multiple leg injuries in a single-car crash Tuesday, prompting more uncertainty about his playing future. Here is a look back at his chequered past. Image Credit: AP

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1994: Woods, at 18, has surgery to remove two benign tumours and scar tissue from his left knee. 1996: He wins his third consecutive US Amateur championship and turns professional the following week. He wins the Las Vegas Invitational for his first PGA Tour victory that October. Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

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2001: He wins the Masters to become the only player to hold all four professional majors at the same time. 2002: December: Woods undergoes surgery to remove a benign cyst and fluid around a ligament in his left knee. Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

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2004: Woods marries Elin Nordegren. 2006: Woods posts eight PGA Tour wins but injures a muscle in his left shoulder blade. He plays through the injury and wins the World Golf Championships-American Express. Image Credit: AFP

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2006: Tiger Woods wins The Open Championship after the death of his father Earl, death of his father Earl, who was his soul mate and putting guru. Image Credit: AP

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2007 June: A day after Woods finishes runner-up in the US Open, Nordegren gives birth to their first child, Samantha. July: Woods ruptures the ACL in his left knee. He decides against surgery and wins five of the last six tournaments he plays that season. Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

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2008 April: Just two days after finishing second at the Masters, Woods has arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair cartilage damage. June: A week after winning the US Open for his 14th major title — four short of the record held by Jack Nicklaus — Woods has surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee and two stress fractures in his left tibia. December: Woods tears his right Achilles’ tendon, he reveals at the 2010 Masters. Image Credit: AFP

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2009 February: Nordegren gives birth to Charlie, their first son. November: Woods is hospitalised with a sore neck and a cut lip that requires five stitches after he loses control of his SUV, which hits a fire hydrant and a tree in his neighbour’s yard. His personal life unravels with reports of multiple extramarital affairs, and he loses major endorsements. He spends 45 days in a clinic and does not return to golf until the 2010 Masters. Image Credit: AP

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2009: Tiger's lean spell in the Majors begins as he fails to add to his 14 titles despite numerous efforts. Image Credit: USA TODAY

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2010: Many feel something is wrong mentally with the golf superstar and notice changes in his behaviour. Image Credit: AP

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2010 May: He withdraws from the final round of the Players Championship, and an MRI exam later reveals he has an inflamed facet joint in his neck. August: His divorce from Nordegren is finalised. Image Credit: AP

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2011 April: Woods suffers a medial collateral ligament sprain in his left knee and a strain of his left Achilles’ tendon on the 17th hole at the Masters, where he goes on to finish fourth. May: He withdraws from the Players Championship citing problems with his knee, Achilles’ and calf. Image Credit: AP

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2012: He wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his first PGA Tour victory since the scandal in his personal life became public. 2013: Woods falls to his knees on the 13th hole of the Barclays because of back spasms. Image Credit: AP

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2014 March: Woods withdraws from the Honda Classic because of back issues. April: He misses the Masters after undergoing surgery for a pinched nerve in his back. Image Credit: AFP

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2015 September: He has his second back surgery. He misses the cut in his third straight major at the PGA Championship a month before. October: He has a third procedure on his back. Image Credit: AP

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2017 April: At 42, Woods undergoes his fourth back surgery. May: He is arrested in Florida on suspicion of DUI. Police find him asleep behind the wheel of his car in the early morning with the engine running. He attributes it to a bad combination of pain medication. Later in the year, he pleads guilty to reckless driving and agrees to enter a diversion program as prosecutors drop the DUI charge. Image Credit: Gulf News Archives

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2018 September: He earns his 80th career victory on the PGA Tour, winning the Tour Championship. It leaves him two shy of the record held by Sam Snead. Image Credit: AFP

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2019 April: He wins the Masters for the fifth time, securing his first major title in 11 years. It is Woods’s 15th overall, moving him within three victories of Jack Nicklaus’s record for major titles. August: Woods announces on Twitter that he had surgery to repair minor ligament damage in his left knee. Image Credit: REUTERS

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2020: Coronavirus shuts down golf, meaning Tiger cannot defend his Masters title. He has a fifth back surgery, a microdiscectomy, to remove “a pressurised disc fragment” that was pinching his nerve and causing “discomfort”. Image Credit: Gulf News Archives

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2020: The delayed Masters finally takes place in November and Dustin Johnson earns his Green Jacket from Tiger. Image Credit: Reuters

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2021 February 23: Woods is involved in a single-car crash in a residential area south of Los Angeles. He is taken to a hospital with multiple leg injuries and undergoes surgery. Image Credit: AP

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