Tiger Woods said he won't fully recover from reconstructive knee surgery until 2010.

The top-ranked golfer had his torn anterior cruciate ligament repaired June 24, one week after winning the U.S. Open.

"I believe the stat is after six months, the ACL is 85 percent in strength and then over the next year and a half, it will gain its 100 percent strength," Woods said Sept. 29 at a news conference for the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. "So it's basically a two-year process."

Woods, 32, said he won't be able to start practicing until January when he will be able to rotate his leg.

"That's just a natural healing process of any ACL, for the graft to take," Woods said. "That's one reason why you see a lot of football players when they get injured, they don't really have their great years for two years out. Luckily I don't play football."

Woods tore the ligament in his knee after the 2007 British Open while running near his home in Orlando, Florida, and then underwent arthroscopic surgery on April 15.

While recovering from that surgery, Woods won the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate on June 16, ignoring the advice of doctors who told him he was risking further damage to the knee. A day later, he disclosed plans for a second, more extensive surgery.

Woods's U.S. Open victory at Torrey Pines Golf Course near San Diego was the 14th major tournament title of his career, leaving him four shy of Jack Nicklaus's record.