19th Hole
‘He’ll never be the Tiger of even 2015’ – Doctor explains Tiger’s latest surgery and timeline of recovery

Yesterday, Tiger Woods released a statement saying that he’s undergone a “subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture.”
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 19, 2023
Considering Tiger’s age and injury history, there’s been rampant speculation on what the future may hold for the 15-time major champion.
Bill Mallon, who is a former PGA Tour player and is now Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and a doctor who specializes in complex shoulder reconstructions, weighed in on Twitter to give his opinon on Woods’ procedure.
OK, so Tiger Woods had a subtalar fusion to his right foot today, to alleviate the pain from the arthritis that developed after his car crash in January 2021. What exactly is that, why did he have it done, and what can be expected from it? 1/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
First of all, the release specifically said it was a subtalar fusion. That is not an ankle fusion as I saw reported by Reuters. They are different surgeries. 2/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
What’s a fusion? A fusion is where you take two adjacent bones, that form a joint between them, and fuse them together to form one larger bone, and the joint goes away in the process. It is done to alleviate pain, usually, although it can be done for instability. 3/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
A subtalar fusion is a fusion of the talus and calcaneus bone in the hindfoot. The talus is the bone that articulates (=forms a joint) with the ankle bones, the tibia and fibula. The calcaneus is your heel bone, which lies under the talus. Thus, subtalar = below the talus. 4/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
When Tiger broke his talus my long Twitter thread said that it was his biggest long-term risk, developing arthritis around the talus. The reason is that the talus has a tenuous blood supply, and when you fracture it, you can disrupt the blood supply to the talus. 5/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
Without blood supply to any bone, the bone will die, a condition called avascular necrosis (AVN) (=osteonecrosis). This will then lead to arthritis 100% of the time. Where the arthritis is depends on the exact anatomy of the fracture. 6/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
So a subtalar fusion fuses the talus to the calcaneus, technically also called the talocalcaneal joint, but its usually called the subtalar joint. This will eliminate motion at the former joint, but also it will no longer be painful, almost uniformly. 7/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
The surgery is done by denuding the joint surfaces of their cartilage, roughening up the bone ends, adding bone graft, and then stabilizing the fusion, usually with screws, or sometimes a plate and screws. 8/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
With a subtalar joint fusion, Tiger will no longer have any motion @ that joint (after it heals), but in return he will have pain relief. It will limit his motion in his foot and ankle, but fortunately this is in right foot – in his left foot it would likely be career ending. 9/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
There are other, larger fusions that can be done around the talus – an ankle fusion, a triple arthrodesis (fusion) (fuses three joints around the talus), and a pantalar arthrodesis, which combines an ankle fusion with a triple arthrodesis, and severely limits motion. 10/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
Tiger will be in either a cast, a splint, or a boot for a period of time – its at the surgeon’s discretion. He will likely get around using a rolling stroller, in which you rest your knee on a padded surface, bend your knee, and that leg will roll along. 11/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
It usually takes 6 weeks to 3 months for the fusion to take effect, and Tiger will have limited weight-bearing during that time, which again will be at the surgeon’s discretion, and also depends on how the fusion is healing. 12/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
The status of the fusion will be determined by serial x-rays, or if needed, a CT scan – CT scans are better to visualize bones than MRIs, which are better at looking at soft tissues. 13/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
Can he play golf again? Yes, but that’s at least 6 months to a year in the future. His tournaments for 2023 are likely over, and I would not be surprised to not see him play again until Augusta 2024. 14/n
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
Can he play golf well again? Depends on your definition of well. He’ll never be the Tiger of 2000 or even 2015. The fact that this is his right foot/ankle is the saving grace, as you need motion in your left foot/ankle as you roll over it near impact. 15/end
— Bill Mallon (@bambam1729) April 19, 2023
More from the 19th Hole
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
19th Hole
How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
19th Hole
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.