Tiger Woods details ‘realistic’ plan for PGA Tour return, wants to ‘pick and choose’ events played out

On Monday, Tiger Woods sat down for an interview for the first time since a car accident in February injured his left leg and left him in a hospital bed or wheelchair for several months afterward.

8 days ago Woods posted a video about me swinging the club on the training ground, and of course “what does this mean for Augusta???” thoughts will drop in the next few days. However, Tiger revealed in Monday’s chat with Golf Digest that it means very little for Augusta and expectations will almost certainly be lower than it is now as it relates to the rest of his career. .

“I think something realistic is playing the one-day Tour – never full time, never repeat – but pick and choose, like Mr. [Ben] Hogan did,” Woods to Digest. “Pick and pick a few events each year and you play around with that.”

“I don’t have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life,” he added. “After combining again, I had to climb Everest again. I had to do it, and I was [with the 2019 Masters win]. This time around, I don’t think I’ll have enough body to climb Everest and that’s okay. I can still play golf. I still can, if my legs are fine, I can still knock out a tournament here or there. But when climbing again and reaching the top, I don’t think that was my realistic expectation. “

Woods, who also reminds people of all the surgery on his back (he also had surgery earlier this year), is almost melancholy with some of his quotes. Not in the “you should feel sorry for me” kind of thing, but in the “I’m just happy to be alive after what happened in February” kind of thing. Some of his quotes are almost hauntingly beautiful. He said that when he was lying up and even during his time in a wheelchair, he would just stare out the window and like anyone addicted to the game, just connect a wedge to a single golf ball.

“… I like to go out and just be outside,” he said. “Sometimes I just need to be on crutches and lie on the grass for an hour because I want to be outside. Missing the touch of a properly hit golf ball is one of the better feelings.”

“It’s been a tough road,” he added. “But I’m just happy to be able to go out there and watch Charlie play, or go into the backyard and an hour or two alone with no one to talk to, no music, nothing. I just heard the birds chirping. That part I missed a lot.”

All of these are fascinating. Woods’ expectations of himself have always been comically high. Remember the time he entered the 2008 US Open when he broke his leg and tore his ACL? A few days earlier, Woods – knowing all this – had said, “I’m good to go. I plan to play competitively.”

That is very different from what he is saying now. Tiger knows his body well, and he knows that the completely absurd Masters 2019 win is his last major championship win. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said what he said in his Digest interview, and he wouldn’t have framed the future the way he framed it. Many people think that Tiger may once again be able to reach the top of the sport. This is not him throwing in the towel, but it is something similar to it as it pertains to majors. That’s OK. And better yet, Tiger seems OK with it.

So while longing to be targeted by Woods to play again – perhaps at the 150th Open Championship in St. Andrews next summer? – and would be happy to see him when we can. These quotes are officially the end to Jack Nicklaus’ big 18 championship chase we could ever get. That’s not the story here, though. The really celebratory story is that, after rolling his SUV so many times in Los Angeles 10 months ago, Tiger is strong enough and can chase anything.