Recovering Tiger Woods says knee has been sore for 10 to 12 years

BETHESDA, Md. — Top-ranked Tiger Woods does not know when he can compete again, but he said Monday his recently rebuilt left knee has been sore his entire PGA Tour career and he looks forward to playing on two good legs.

"My left knee has been sore for 10 to 12 years," Woods said during a conference call for his AT&T National tournament, his first public comments since reconstructive surgery June 24. "It will be nice to finally have a healthy leg. The doctors have assured me that my long-term health will be a hell of a lot better than it's been over the last decade. I'm really looking forward to that."

Woods, 32, said doctors in Utah used a tendon from his right hamstring to rebuild the anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee, which he said had always been weak and finally snapped while he was jogging on a golf course last July.

His leg is in a brace, and he plans to be on crutches for about three weeks.

Woods said he most likely would not be able to attend the AT&T National, which starts Thursday at Congressional, because there was swelling on the flight home to Florida after surgery and doctors have advised him to avoid planes. "But who knows?" he added. "I don't really listen to doctors all that well, anyway."

Woods apparently wasn't listening in May when X-rays revealed a double stress fracture in his left tibia as he was getting back in shape from arthroscopic surgery to clean out cartilage in his troublesome left knee after the Masters.

In a story told by swing coach Hank Haney, doctors said the best treatment was for Woods to spend three weeks on crutches, followed by three weeks of rest. Haney said Woods looked at the doctor and said, "I'm playing the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win."

Woods won the Open on the 19th hole of a playoff against Rocco Mediate, meaning he played 91 holes over five days.

Woods said he knew in advance the Open would be his last tournament of the year "no matter how it turned out."

Notes

• Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal failed to qualify for the British Open when he took a bogey on the third hole of a playoff at the end of a 36-hole qualifier for European Tour players in Sunningdale, England. Darren Clarke also failed to earn a spot in the British Open, which starts July 17 at Royal Birkdale.

Simon Wakefield of England and Ariel Canete of Argentina were co-medalists at 133 to lead 18 players who qualified.

• In North American qualifying events in Michigan, former PGA Championship winners Davis Love III and Rich Beem earned British Open berths while Steve Elkington, winner of the 1995 PGA Championship, bogeyed his final two holes and fell short.