Woods insisted on playing Open

Tiger Woods went against his doctor's advice to play in the U.S. Open, but a leading orthopedic surgeon thinks continued play will not damage his left knee.

"I don't think playing golf will do any permanent damage to the knee," said Bill Mallon, a former PGA Tour player who is a surgeon at Triangle Orthopaedic Associates in Durham, N.C.

Woods' surgeon, Thomas Rosenberg of HealthSouth Surgery Center in Park City, Utah, has declined to comment, but some orthopedic surgeons, including Mallon, think Woods has an osteochondral defect, which is a chipping of cartilage from the bone.

"It might get worse," Mallon said, "but there is no science to say golf will make it worse."

Woods did not compete after The Masters in April until the U.S. Open, but he won the Open in a historic finish. Limping for five days in a 91-hole marathon, he beat ...