Turns out, his injured left knee was much worse than he allowed the world to know. He also had a double stress fracture of his left tibia that was discovered last month, just before the Memorial tournament.

So, 2 days after winning his third U.S. Open, in perhaps his most indelible performance ever, Woods announced he will miss the remainder of this season to undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament surgery.

He said on Monday, after beating Rocco Mediate on the 19th hole of their playoff, that he was shutting it down. He just didn't know for how long. He had undergone an arthroscopic procedure on the knee in mid-April, 2 days after finishing second in the Masters, and hadn't played a competitive round until last Thursday. Or even walked 18 holes.

This will be the fourth time he's had surgery on the knee, dating to 1994, when he was still an amateur.

In a statement from his public relations people at IMG, the stress fractures were attributed to Tiger's intense rehabilitation and preparations for the Open. Doctors have assured him that they will heal with time.

"It was important to me that I disclose my condition at an appropriate time," Tiger said in the release. "I wanted to make sure the focus was on the U.S. Open. Now it is clear that the right thing to do is to listen to my doctors.

"I have to do the right thing for my long-term health. My doctors assure me with the proper rehabilitation and training, there will be no long-term effects."

No date for the operation, or rehab schedule, have been determined.

Woods, 32, originally tore the ACL in 2007 following the British Open while running at his home in Florida. He has won 10 of 13 tournaments since then, and finished second in two others.

He was scoped 2 months ago to clean out cartilage damage that had developed as a result of the ACL injury. He was hoping to delay this surgery until after the season.

"I was determined to do everything and anything in my power to play in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines," said Woods, who grew up an hour's drive north of San Diego. "I'm thrilled with the fact that last week was such a special tournament."

He will miss the British Open, which he won in 2005 and '06, the PGA Championship, where he would have been the two-time defending champ, and the Ryder Cup.

"I admire Tiger as a person, player and fan," U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger said. "This should not be about Tiger and the Ryder Cup now. This is about Tiger's health and well-being and his march to history."

Tiger, of course, needs four more majors to match Jack Nicklaus' record of 18. Jack didn't win his 15th until he was 38.

There's also the matter of the PGA Tour's second FedEx Cup playoffs, which Tiger - who else? - won a year ago.

"Tiger is our tour," Kenny Perry said. "When you lose your star player, it definitely hurts."

You think? Whoever wins the British and PGA, there will be an asterisk attached. As Sergio Garcia said after winning last month's so-called fifth major, The Players Championship, "I'd like to thank Tiger for not being here."

This much is certain: When Tiger's not involved, not as many people tend to watch. Can you blame them?

He has won four of the last eight majors, and has been runner-up three times.

Hank Haney, Tiger's swing coach, is still trying to digest exactly what his star pupil accomplished last week. Just like the rest of us.

"I stayed with him, and just walking from the kitchen to the dining-room table, he has to stop, bent over from the waist, because he was in so much pain," Haney said yesterday afternoon on ESPN's Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt radio show. "Then he's playing in the U.S. Open. That's how it went.

"He kept saying he was going to play. When doctors told him the normal [recuperation] procedure was 3 weeks on crutches, then 3 more weeks of inactivity, Tiger looked at them and said, 'I'm playing in the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win.'

"The whole way along I thought, 'Man, if he pulls this off, this is going to be the greatest accomplishment, you know, maybe anybody's ever had.' "

He just might be right.

"I had to talk him into walking nine holes the Saturday before, just to see if he could do it," Haney went on. "I just kept thinking he was going to do it. When he says something, it's probably going to happen.

"Everyone focused on the knee, but it was really more the stress fractures that were giving him problems. He knew it was going to hurt. He just kind of had to brace himself for it. But he didn't alter his game too much.

"The ACL was already gone, so there really wasn't too much left to damage, to be honest. It was just a question of, would he handle the pain. It wasn't fun watching him suffer like that, but I knew he was on a mission."

Isn't he always? And now that this chapter is over, the only thing to do is look forward to his return.

"I really think this is such a positive thing," Haney said. "He's done it with a bad injury. Now he's going to get it fixed, and be pain-free. I know what he's gone through. Now he's going to be strong [again], which will allow him to work out like he likes to, to practice like he likes to. It's going to be a setback for a while, to get it organized. Then he's going to come back.

"He's been working on one leg. He told me, 'I'm coming back better than ever.' "

We can hardly wait.

Until then, we'll just have to make do. It won't be the same. *

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