Body language: A near miss Monday put Woods? knee to yet another test against Mediate. Photo: J.D. Cuban
Haney would not speculate about how much time off Woods might take. "The people he trusts have voiced their opinions," Haney said. "He'll filter through them and make his decision. But you don't get to be Tiger Woods by having everyone tell you what to do. He knows his body."
One of the lines Woods' employed last week to satisfy his questioners was "I've been down this road before." But his last surgery on his left knee, in 2002 (to remove cysts), never caused Woods such visible pain when he returned to play. This procedure was clearly more extensive, making it ironic that Woods' finest hour came at the same time a major physical setback for the first time flattened a period of real upward trajectory in his career. After beginning a streak of arguably the finest golf of his life last August, Woods seemed primed for his most serious run yet at the Grand Slam, a possibility he didn't disavow. Now it's possible that he's played his last Grand Slam event of the year.
Every great champion before him has had injuries or other misfortunes impede the progress of his game, and in his 12th year as a pro, Woods was due. Perhaps the knee will be a mere blip, perhaps his cross to bear. Woods may have a good idea which, but of course he's not saying. It might be that he considered Torrey Pines his greatest victory in part because it demonstrates that at 32, nothing -- including a temporarily bum knee -- can stop him. Or it might be because he now knows there is indeed something that can.
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