Tiger Woods says American football players who have the kind of knee surgery that ended his season usually are not at their best for two years.
"Luckily, I don't play football," Woods said today.
Woods said his knee will probably be no more than 85 per cent strong when he returns, but he sees no reason why he can't get back to the level of play that brought him nine victories in 12 official events this year, no finish worse than a tie for fifth.
One week after winning the US Open in a 19-hole playoff at San Diego, Woods had surgery to rebuild the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. If the healing process runs its normal course, he said he will not be able to swing a club until January at the earliest.
"The healing process for an ACL is six months," Woods said during a video conference to announce the 16-man field for his Chevron World Challenge in December. "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 per cent in strength, and then over the next year-and-a-half, it will gain its 100 per cent 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 his nine months of competition, from an eight-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational through his playoff victory at the US Open for his 14th career major, was the best span of his career.
"I think I played better in this stretch than I have at any time in my career," said Woods, whose 65 career US PGA Tour victories trail only Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82).
"I may have won more major championships, but I certainly have never been in contention in as many events, or won as many events in a row. I had a pretty good run."
In the only three tournaments he didn't win from August 2007 to June 2008, Woods finished two shots behind Phil Mickelson at the Deutsche Bank Championship; two shots behind Geoff Ogilvy in Miami; and three shots behind Trevor Immelman at the Masters.
But he could face a fresh challenge when he returns - from Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas.
The 23-year-old Kim the year at No.75 in the world, and now was at No.6. Villegas, a 26-year-old from Colombia, rose to No.7 with his victory in Atlanta.
Over the last five months, Kim has won the Wachovia Championship and AT&T National at Congressional, and had a starring role in the US victory at the Ryder Cup.
"Nobody is going to knock Tiger off anywhere," Kim said last week at the US Tour Championship.
"He's staying there until somebody starts giving him more a challenge on a week-to-week basis, and that's my goal. This gives me an opportunity to know what I need to work on for next year to be ready when he comes back.
"And I'd love to give him more of a challenge than I did before."
