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Covering Tiger Woods? Our medical expert can explain his injuries, the recovery process and if we can expect to see him on the green any time soon

Feb 25, 2021

2 min


This week’s shocking news of golf legend Tiger Woods rolling his vehicle and sustaining serious injuries to his right leg have sports fans, journalists and most of the world watching and waiting for word of whether he’ll play again.


According to ESPN, the injuries are extensive:


Tiger Woods is recovering from a lengthy surgery to repair what a doctor said Tuesday night were "significant orthopaedic injuries to his right lower extremity" suffered in a single-car rollover crash hours earlier on a steep roadway in a Los Angeles suburb.


As part of a statement on Woods' official Twitter account, Dr. Anish Mahajan of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center updated the famed golfer's condition, saying in part that Woods had multiple "open fractures" to his lower right leg, and he had a rod placed in his tibia and screws and pins inserted in his foot and ankle during an emergency surgery.


"Comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones were stabilized by inserting a rod into the tibia," said Mahajan, the chief medical officer and interim CEO at Harbor-UCLA. "Additional injuries to the bones of the foot and ankle were stabilized with a combination of screws and pins. Trauma to the muscle and soft-tissue of the leg required surgical release of the covering of the muscles to relieve pressure due to swelling." ESPN – February 23



If you’re a journalist looking to know more about this type of injury, what the recovery process usually involves and what the long-term prognosis may be – then let us help.


Dr. Monte Hunter serves at Augusta University as the Satcher Distinguished Chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and director of the Sports Medicine Program. Dr. Hunter is an expert in reconstruction and sports injury prevention – and he is available to speak with media about this topic. Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.


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