Tiger Woods announced Tuesday that he has suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon, forcing him off the course for a lengthy period of time as he recovers.

An "Achilles rupture" specifically describes a complete tear of the Achilles tendon, meaning the tendon is fully severed. Last year, Bernhard Langer tore his Achilles and returned to competition three months later, but a tear is not as severe an injury as a rupture, which is what Woods suffered.

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