'Woods is the PGA Tour and we need him'

Abu Dhabi: Tiger Woods, who bid farewell to the Tour and went under the scalpel two weeks ago, will have to reconstruct his swing as well as his ligaments if he is to make a full recovery, predicts golf legend Gary Player.

Playing through a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, sustained while out running last July, not only proved his formidable pain threshold but also won him 10 of his next 13 starts as well as the WGC Bridgestone, the PGA Championships and, of course, the US Open.

It was after his miraculous victory at Torrey Pines last month that Woods revealed the true extent of his injury, which has also caused a double stress fracture of his left tibia.

Woods, now in possession of 14 Majors, has had to put his relentless pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 on hold for an indeterminate period while invests time over his recovery.

Doctors are advising him to wait until his leg is perfect, rather than returning to competition early as he did after arthroscopic surgery in April this year.

And Player, who succumbed to a similar knee injury during his own sparkling career, says that if Woods is to come back as good as he went away, he must change his swing from the bottom up.

"At the moment Tiger is twice as good as everyone else," he says from the Shangri-La Hotel in Abu Dhabi, where he is making a site inspection of his Saadiyat Island golf course.

"It's a very sad thing for Tiger to have to do this at this stage in the season and miss the last two Majors of the year. For him to come back and continue winning Majors he'll have to make some big changes."

Rebuilding his swing is not a new phenomenon for Woods, 32, who has tinkered a number of times with his style in order to minimise stress to his fragile left knee.

"He changed his swing before, but not like this," explains Player, 72.

"He has always had a strong knee in his swing but now, four operations later, his leg will not be the same so unless he makes some changes I don't think it's going to hold out."

Player, a South African, who won nine Majors between 1959 and 1978, has also had surgery to his left knee.

Long scar

Pointing to a long scar running along the inside of his leg he said: "I had to adapt my swing and it's very tough to do. The knees are the power and absorb all the pressure. But Tiger is smart and he'll make the changes."

And in the meantime how will golf fair in the absence of its brightest star, who is currently hobbling around on crutches, unable even to putt for another four or five weeks?

"It's very sad for golf that Tiger has to miss the rest of the season," says Player.

"Tiger Woods is the PGA Tour and we need him in the game to draw in the people and to attract the media.

"Manufacturers need him and tournaments need him to show. He sells the game."