Goosen thinks Tiger was faking injury
Perhaps the news that Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the 2008 season will finally convince Retief Goosen that his knee injury is genuine.
Tiger out for seasonTiger Woods not only won the U.S. Open, he apparently did so with a double stress fracture in his tibia and a knee that will require reconstructive ACL surgery. Now that all the facts are out, what do you think about Tiger's performance, the PGA Tour's ability to survive the season without him and whether Woods will still be able to break Jack's major record?
Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion himself, seemed to accuse Woods of faking the extent of the injury when he winced in pain and limped around Torrey Pines on his way to a third U.S. Open title and 14th major championship.
"I think so," Goosen said Tuesday when asked if Woods was exaggerating the severity of the injury, according to a report on the Web site of The London Times. "It just seemed that when he hit a bad shot his knee was in pain and on his good shots he wasn't in pain. You see when he made the putts and he went down on his knees and was shouting, 'Yeah,' his knee wasn't sore.
"Nobody really knows if he was just showing off or if he was really injured. I believe if he was really injured, he would not have played."
On Wednesday, Woods announced that he would have season-ending reconstructive ACL surgery. The world's No. 1 golfer also revealed that he has a double stress fracture in his left tibia. Woods initially tore his ACL while running near his Orlando home following last summer's British Open. He found out about the stress fractures a month ago, as he was attempting to prepare for the Memorial Tournament. The stress fractures were caused by his rehabilitation from an arthroscopic procedure on the knee he underwent two days after The Masters.
When pressed about his inflammatory comments, Goosen seemed to soften his tone, but did not retract what he said.
"I was being light-hearted," Goosen said, according to the Times. "No one but Tiger himself knows how badly hurt he was. But if he was really badly hurt, he would have withdrawn, wouldn't he?"
Woods' swing coach, Hank Haney, described the moment when Woods first learned of the stress fractures, and doctors told Woods the preferred treatment for the stress fractures was three weeks on crutches and three weeks of inactivity.
"Tiger looked at the doctor and said, 'I'm playing in the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win.' And then he started putting on his shoes," Haney said. "He looked at me and said, 'Come on, Hank. We'll just putt today."'
Goosen closed with 4-under 67 on Sunday at Torrey Pines, pulling within six shots of Woods and his playoff foe, Rocco Mediate, and finishing in a tie for 14th.
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