Tiger not sure of his return date

Knee pain bothered him for '10 to 12 years'

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel—July 1, 2008

Tiger Woods has proven himself time and time again to be anything but typical. According to Dr. Vijay Vad, a sports medicine specialist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, his time spent in rehab should be no exception.

"We say six to eight months with the average person, but we're talking about a fit specimen," Vad said. "He could baffle you because he's in the top one percent of fitness. He's going to have the best rehab team surrounding him 24-7."

Woods is expected to return to professional golf once his rehabilitation period is complete. However, according to Vad, Woods could face further complications with his knee down the road.

"He has a very high risk of developing arthritis in the next five to 10 years," Vad said. "Is his career going to be cut short because of this? We are developing technologies to treat arthritis and he will benefit from them."

In the immediate future, though, Woods has further professional play to look forward to.

"But [the possibility of arthritis] kind of puts a time pressure on him to break Jack's [Nicklaus] record," Vad added.

Story originally published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.