PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tiger Woods had a less invasive surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon on Tuesday, which will keep him out of the Masters and leaves in question whether he can play in any other major championship the rest of the year.

Woods posted the development on his social media accounts without saying how long he expected to be out or any other details except that the surgery went well.

“As I began to ramp up my own training and practice at home, I felt a sharp pain in my left Achilles, which was deemed to be ruptured,” Woods said.

He said he had a minimally invasive Achilles tendon repair for a ruptured tendon that the doctor said went smoothly. Such surgeries involve smaller incisions, and the recovery time is quicker. But most recoveries take at least a month before someone can even put weight on their foot.

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer had a tear in his Achilles tendon last year that kept him out for three months.

Dr. Charlton Stucken of the Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach performed the surgery and said in the post, “The surgery went smoothly, and we expect a full recovery.”

The Masters is April 10-13.

Scheffler eyes 3-peat

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Players Championship has four decades of history at TPC Sawgrass suggesting it doesn’t favor a particular style of golf — power player or pea shooter, great short game or consummate iron player. And then Scottie Scheffler came along.

In one of his more remarkable performances in an astonishing season, Scheffler nearly withdrew in the second round with a neck injury, made three late birdies Saturday to at least stay in range, then overcame a five-shot deficit to win with a 64.

He became the first back-to-back winner of the PGA Tour’s premier tournament, which means next to nothing to the world’s No. 1 player as he goes for three in a row.

“What does last year’s tournament have to do with this year?” he said Tuesday after playing a nine-hole practice round with Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

“What does that have to do with what I’m trying to do this week? Not much, right? Like, do I start 1 under? Do I start at 2 under?” he said. “It’s great to have won this tournament the last two years, but can I rely on some of those experiences when I step up on the first tee and give myself a little bit of confidence? Yes. If I missed the cut here last year, am I going to be like stepping on to the first tee and be like, ‘Man, I duck-hooked that one last year, I better not duck-hook it again.’ You know?”

That’s how he feels about all of 2024, when he won nine times — seven on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and The Players, the Olympic gold medal outside Paris and the Hero World Challenge holiday event in the Bahamas.