Tiger Woods: 5 Obstacles to Him Achieving Legend Status
Tiger Woods said on Tuesday that he's been using crutches and wearing a protective boot after reinjuring his left knee on the 17th hole at the Players Championship two weeks ago.
That got us at Bleacher Report thinking: What have been five obstacles that have impeded Woods' career throughout the years?
Some of them are physical, some touch more on the mental side of things, but it's clear that these five obstacles stopped Woods in his tracks for the time being.
Woods said he's still planning on playing the upcoming U.S. Open from June 16-19, but at this point of his career, he can ill-afford more obstacles.
He's 35 years old, and probably still needs to work on some personal issues stemming from previous incidents.
Here are five obstacles that have thwarted Woods in his illustrious/painful career.
5. Undergoes ACL Surgery on Left Knee, 2008
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2008 was the first time Tiger Woods dealt with a serious injury in his career.
Woods, who said he had been battling knee problems throughout the year, had to undergo reconstructive ACL surgery on his left knee midway through the season.
He was forced to miss the rest of the year, including the Open Championship and PGA Championship.
Thankfully for him, he had already won the 2008 U.S. Open, so it wasn't all a wash.
But Woods' left knee would act up again at the worst time down the line.
4. Nov. 27, 2009: The Day That Lived in Infamy
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On Nov. 27, 2009, just two days after reports came out that Woods was being unfaithful to his then-wife Elin Nordegren, Woods crashed his SUV into a tree.
Nordegren was reported at the time to have smashed out the back window of the SUV with a golf club, worried about her husband inside the vehicle.
Woods suffered facial lacerations and was forced to forgo the rest of the 2009 season, including opting out of his own charity golf tournament: the Chevron World Challenge.
But that was the least of his worries considering what followed after the crash.
Let's just say I'm surprised Nordegren hasn't smashed out another one of his car windows since.
3. Rachel Uchitel and Co., 2009-2010
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Two days before Woods' car crash, The National Enquirer published a story about an extramarital affair involving Woods and New York City nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel.
After Woods' crash, they all came out of the woodwork, multiple women saying they'd slept with Woods while he was married to Elin Nordegren.
After a report of having an affair with a cocktail waitress, Woods later admitted his infidelity, and also admitted he had had an affair with his neighbor's 22-year-old daughter.
All of this began an apparent mental decline for Woods on the golf course.
2. Divorce with Elin Nordegren, 2010
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On August 23, 2010, with the world still buzzing about Woods' infidelity, Woods and wife Elin Nordegren divorced.
Aside from the ugly split, Nordegren was rewarded approximately $100 million in a settlement and later bought an island.
And thus Woods' mental spiral continued.
1. Reinjures Left Knee, Relegated to Crutches, 2011
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The latest injury to Woods, reinjuring his left knee on the 17th hole of the Players Championship two weeks ago, could be the most costly obstacle Woods has faced in his career because of the time in which it occurred.
This year was supposed to be the year Woods bounced back and left his past behind him. And after placing fourth in the 2011 Masters, it looked like he was starting come around again.
But after his latest injury, Woods, at 35 years of age, may be seeing his career come to a close. He not only is probably still battling mental exhaustion (his two missed putts in the final round of the Masters appeared to drive home that point), he's now an ailing 35-year-old. Ironically, it may not be Woods' mind that will fail him now, but simply that he's getting older.
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