By John Gordon
BY SPORTSNET.CA
The only thing preventing me from making it to the PGA Tour was a torn anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee in my early 30s.
That, and the fact that my golf swing was?and remains?crap.
But I do recall that even after a decent attempt at rehabbing the knee, trusting it to bear up under the torque and other rigours of a golf swing was tough.
I thought that might be the problem when Ernie Els struggled to regain his form after injuring his left knee, and wondered about Tiger's situation following his latest foray under the knife.
As we enter U.S. Open week, Tiger's remarkable record at Torrey Pines is the leading topic of conversation, as is his ability to return to his previous form and how he, and especially his knee, will stand up under the tortuous conditions.
While Tiger, on the surface, pooh-poohs the idea that hitting out of the long, gnarly rough holds any danger for his recently re-repaired left knee, I'm not so sure, and neither is someone else who is not only more informed, but smarter, than me.
Dr. Craig Davies is a well-known Canadian golf performance therapist and fitness trainer. I asked him about the impact a left-knee injury might have on a right-handed golfer.
"The left or lead knee on a golfer experiences a great deal of stress during the golf swing," Davies told me. "As the golfer moves their pelvis towards the target, the knee joint experiences a torqueing force between the pelvis and the relatively stationary foot. The knee was not meant to absorb rotational forces. As a result, the meniscus or cartilage discs which lie in between the femur and tibia is sheared and this results in degeneration and eventual tearing.
"The harder and faster a golfer moves their lead hip towards the target and away from the ball, the more stress the meniscus experiences and the greater potential for damage. The meniscus are meant to absorb compression forces and help add greater joint surface area for bending and straightening the knee and not during a sharp rotational motion of the knee.
"Obviously Tiger moves with great force, so his likelihood of injury to this area is increased. Also, the meniscus cartilage has poor blood supply so it doesn't heal very well on its own once damage has been done to it and this is why arthroscopic surgery is so common."