Tiger Woods wouldn't say Sun if he would be ready to play the 2022 Masters Tournament this April because of his recovery from a recent back surgery. After his brutal SUV wreck Tuesday morning in California, compound leg fractures pretty much guarantee he won't be walking the hallowed grounds in Augusta.

It also means he volition probable need an unabridged yr to recover and rehab his multiple leg injuries sustained in the high-speed, unmarried-automobile, rollover crash in Ranch Palos Verdes.

Woods has ii chemical compound fractures and a shattered talocrural joint, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday evening.

Recovering from horrific leg injuries is nothing new for athletes. The nigh contempo example, and all-time by far, is the gruesome compound fracture in the leg of NFL quarterback Alex Smith. Every bit quarterback of Washington in 2018, Smith bankrupt both his tibia and fibula in his correct leg. He needed sixteen surgeries to fully repair his leg, and he had other life-threatening infections that followed the surgeries.

Many idea Smith would never return to the football field, but he proved all doubters wrong when he returned late in the 2022 season. He easily won the NFL Improvement Player of the Year in what was surely a landslide win among voters.

Donovan McNabb had three flavour-ending injuries, but the NFL quarterback returned each fourth dimension. Tom Brady had a flavour-ending knee injury in 2008, only he returned—and he wound up doing ok. Before this month, he won his seventh Super Bowl championship.

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods of the United States celebrates winning the Masters during the final roubnd at Augusta National Golf game Club on April xiv, 2022 in Augusta, Georgia. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Tiger Woods is unlike, though. First, he's always been very selective on which tournaments he would play. He often took off time from tournaments to prepare for the iv majors: The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship.

Second, he was already having trouble standing for long periods of time at the Genesis Invitational last weekend, which he co-hosted in Pacific Palisades, California. The PGA does not allow either the golfers nor caddies on tour to ride in golf carts during play—meaning the golfer must walk 18 holes for at to the lowest degree 2 days, four days if they make the weekend cut. And so, he would need practiced, strong legs to aid with his swing. Compound fractures in legs make that even more than difficult.

Third, he's 45-years-onetime. Recovery gets harder at an older historic period. He's had recurring back problems and a recent 5th surgery in Dec. His machine crash adds more medical attending to his torso, and new parts to rehab. If he makes it back, he'll likely be 46 at the youngest

Jack Nicklaus won his 18th, and final, major at age 46 at the Masters. That means communicable Jack's majors record is about all but impossible.

If at that place'southward a fourth, it's Tiger'southward brand. He will make enough money from golf for the rest of his life, fifty-fifty if he never swings some other social club again.

Former President Donald Trump appeared on Flim-flam News afterwards Tuesday to tout his friendship with Woods, and the 45th president said Tiger will exist back on the links.

"He'll be back. You watch, he'll be there," Trump said Tuesday. "When he's in contention, the ratings double and triple ... He doesn't even have to be leading. He can be near the lead and TV ratings will be improve than they were the year earlier."

Does that translate to Woods actually getting dorsum into total rehab mode to go his back and legs in shape for more professional golf? That'southward a lot of work, even for an athlete like Tiger.

Woods volition evidence resilience and get back onto the course. It won't exist this yr, only information technology'll be in the adjacent year or so. He'due south washed information technology before. Afterwards a series of surgeries, he won the 2022 Masters afterward an eleven-year drought in Augusta.

Wood will want to prove all golfing fans his toughness, even though he doesn't need to. If he walked abroad from the sport right now, he'll be considered one of the greatest to ever play the game. When he'southward at his best, he can make the others look like amateurs.

He will never exist at his best over again, though. Will he be on the major stage once more? Doubtful.

Will he walk abroad from the game? Likely. But his banner on golf will be there for eternity.