Tiger Woods on his terrible leg injury, path to recovery and future play at major championships

Tiger Woods spoke publicly for the first time in nearly a year while appearing at the 2021 World Hero Contest on Tuesday. Since a horrific car wreck at the end of February left Woods in a hospital bed for several weeks and at home in a wheelchair for a long time afterward, Woods hasn’t released much information beyond minor updates. to assure golf fans that he was making progress.

A little over a week ago we saw him swing his golf club for the first time since last December when he played in the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie. The clip is only 3 seconds long. On Monday, a lengthy interview with Golf Digest was scrapped, leaving us some interesting nuggets included an admission from Woods that he would never play a full schedule again and that he didn’t think he would “have the body to climb Everest, and that’s okay.”

However, there are still plenty of other things to deal with and many questions to ask the 15-time big winner. On Tuesday, he spoke for 45 minutes about his accident, his life and the possibility of coming back like him in a few years. Here’s a look at everything meaningful he said.

About this recovery compared to others: “This is much more difficult [than the 10 combined on my knee and back]. The knee that I have is in the left knee, those activities are one thing, it’s a level. Then you add the back, that’s another level. And then with this right leg… it’s hard to explain how hard it was to be immobile for three months, just lying there and I just wanted to get out. That is one of my goals. “

Woods has said this many times now and is still extremely sober reading about one of the all-time greats looking out the window yearning to be among the multitude of birds in south Florida and the grass. Bermuda.

When he will return to the PGA Tour: “As for playing at Tour level, I don’t know when that will happen. Now, I’ll play a round here or there, hit a little bit and chuckle, I can do something. same.… To see some of my shots falling out of the sky a lot shorter than before is a bit of an eye opening, but at least I can do it again. time there, I don’t like to come.”

Tiger also said he enjoys playing forward tees and chipping and balling but repeatedly hinted that he’s not sure his right foot is so cooperative that he’ll be able to compete on the PGA Tour or the level. big champion or not.

On what he remembers from the crash: “Yes, all of those responses were answered in the investigation, so you can read about all of that in the posting.”

It’s probably not surprising, but Woods won’t touch on anything about his crash other than to say that he “refuses to turn on local news and channels” and that he “doesn’t mentally ready for that path” while he was in a hospital bed. I wish he would take care of the crash for some reason. First, there is a type of driving problem that deserves to be addressed. Also, whenever Woods opens up about personal issues, it makes him human and empowers others to do the same.

On his general future: “Well, I’ve been up there a couple of times, and I’ve had a pretty good run in my career. I just know that once I come back from spinal fusion surgery, I still have hands. …so I came back here in 2017 and played in the Hero event… Then I started back in 2018 and started playing a little bit more and started building. I started building, I realized after Tampa that I could win. Then I proved to myself that I could lead at the British Open. Well, I could finish. I didn’t win, but I ended up doing pretty well in the PGA at Bellerive, and then in 2019 I won. masters. I don’t see that trend continuing with me. I won’t get a chance to exercise because my leg condition has developed. I just don’t. I would have another way to do it, and that’s okay and I’m at peace with that, I’ve climbed enough times. “

Tiger continued to wave the white flag, despite everyone’s refusal to accept.

In accepting this new future: “It was so easy, given the fact that I was able to come back from fusion surgery and do what I did. I landed that final major and I’ve marked two more events throughout. I don’t anticipate this leg will ever be the same, therefore, I will never be the same again and the clock is ticking. I am getting older. I am not getting younger anymore. All All of that combined means a full schedule and a full workout and recovery schedule needed to do that, no, I don’t have any desire to do that. [Ben] Hogan did it, he did a pretty good job at it, and there’s no reason why I couldn’t do it and feel ready. “

Another white flag, but an encouraging one because it looks like Woods has reconciled his past with his future. It’s a tough thing to do and he’ll likely have to do it many times over the next 10-15 years. The line, “I took that last major” will get all the attention, but don’t let it distract you, “I don’t have any desire to do that.” Have we ever heard Tiger say such things?

He’s almost 46 years old in body nearly 63 years old, and his soul seems tired. Whose will not be? This, of all the things he said on Tuesday, is the one that paints the clearest picture of his future. Not only did he show his introspection but, in fact, having won his last major championship, he had no desire to put himself through the physical, mental, and emotional suffering it caused. will take in the future to even get to the point where he will have a 2% chance of winning another prize.

About Master 2019: “It’s amazing when [my kids] when they realized I could play the game. That’s why the Masters are such an important family moment for all of us. To my mom, Sam and Charlie, all my friends, because… [the injury portion of my career is] what they saw, that’s what they grew up with. They don’t remember any of these times because they weren’t alive or they were too young to remember. “

As time goes on, Tiger’s 2019 Masters win, like Phil Mickelson’s 2021 PGA championship, will only become than improbable and more astonishing than when it happened.

When playing the 150th Open Championship next year: “I love playing at St. Andrews, no doubt about it. It’s my favorite golf course in the world. To be a two-time Open champion there, just be a part of it. champions dinners are really fascinating. … It’s things like at the Masters, those dinners are priceless and those stories and listening to them tell about how they played, when they played and what they’ve done, it’s an honor to be a part of such a room.… Physically, hopefully I can. I have to get there first.”

It would really be the perfect place for him to return to.

About breakaway leagues: “I’ve decided for myself that I’m going to support the PGA Tour. That’s where I leave my legacy. I’ve been fortunate enough to win 82 events on this tour and 15 major championships and be part of the Tournament. World Golf Championships, their beginning and their end. So I have to stay true to the PGA Tour.”

Tiger doesn’t have the swing he used to because, well, he doesn’t really play golf, but it’s a nice win (if only a small one) for the PGA Tour in the ongoing fight. future of men’s professional golf.

On the possibility of his leg loss: “I already said [Monday]: I’m lucky to be alive but I still have expenses. Those are the two most important things. I’m so grateful that someone upstairs took care of me, so that not only can I stay here, but I can also walk without a prosthetic leg. “

At the time, it was odd to discuss and even interview many medical professionals about the fact that Woods might have lost his leg, but it turns out that this was actually not exaggerated at all. Recently, he said it was almost a 50-50 possibility, which is more or less what people think at the moment. The thought of Tiger walking around with a prosthetic leg is both sobering and a reminder of how serious his accident was.

On his foot being ready to play: “Am I going to put my family through it again? Am I going to put myself out there again? We had a family talk. We all sat down and said, ‘If this leg cooperates and where do I go. I can play the Tour, can I do it with you guys? ‘ The consensus is yes. Now, internally, I haven’t reached the point yet. I haven’t proven to myself that I can do it. …. But we’re talking about going out there and competing against the best in the world on the toughest golf courses of all. I’m very far from that. Now, I have a long way to go to get there. I haven’t decided yet if I want to get there. I’ve gotten to the point where I can make a decision. And we’ll see what happens when I get to that point, but I’ve got a long way to go with this one.”

The theme here is consistency. Tiger seemed unsure if his right foot would allow him even the option of competing at a major championship level again. And even if there is a chance that it maybe, sounds questionable given that he’s even willing to go through massive, private levels of suffering and make the effort to make it happen. To get to the point where he can choose to “put himself out there again”, which by the way, he might as well not choose to do even if he is well enough to do so.

This echoes what Woods said earlier about having no desire to go beyond what is needed to play a full schedule. This is the departure from, well, the rest of his life. His orientation has always been that if his body is ready, everything else will follow. Now? Even if the knees, back, and legs are all synchronized for the same length of time, the fight that has always defined Tiger Woods (and in fact turned him into himself) seems to have diminished and even may disappear completely. way.