Wounded Tiger could take two years to fully recover

Atlanta: Tiger Woods has been told by one of golf's leading surgeons that it could be another two years until he is back to his best.

Dr Lanny L Johnson, a pioneering orthopaedic specialist who invented the tools used in Woods' knee operation in June, has warned the 32-year-old American not to rush back, or risk suffering long-term damage.

"Other forces will try and hurry Tiger back, but he should take it easy," said Dr Johnson.

"Dr Tom Rosenburg, who has performed his operations, is a great surgeon and if Tiger's smart, he will listen to what he has to say.

"If you tear your cruciate ligament in American football, you can play within a year and with full confidence within two years.

"Based on this, and the recovery period of other athletes, I am guessing that Tiger will need two years.'"

Win defied medics

Woods announced he was to have a fourth operation on his left knee two days after he defied doctors to win the US Open at Torrey Pines, which was his 14th major of an incredible career.

Since that feat, achieved despite a stress fracture of the knee, he has been undergoing rehabilitation and was expected to be back in time for the 2009 Masters.

However, while he may be fit enough to play next year, Dr Johnson's diagnosis suggests he could be struggling to be back to his dominant best in time for the summer of 2010.

Woods agreed that American football players who have the same knee surgery as him were not at their best for two years.

But he added: "Luckily, I don't play football."

The golfer said his knee would probably be no more than 85 percent strong when he returns, but he sees no reason why he cannot get back to the level of play that brought him nine victories in 12 official events this year.

Healing time

Woods said he would not be able to swing a club until January at the earliest.

"The healing process for an ACL is six months.

"No matter what I try to do, I can't speed up that process. That puts me into January. Unfortunately, I can't rotate, I can't practice on that leg until then.

"I believe the stat is after six months, the ACL is 85 percent in strength, and then over the next year-and-a-half, it will gain its 100 percent strength," he said. "So it's basically a two-year process."

Woods said his goal was getting his body healthy for 2009 to compete at a high level.

He said the nine months he played up until stopping to have the surgery were the best of his career.

"I think I played better in this stretch than I have at any time in my career," said Woods.