Tiger Woods offer hope of a return but also a serious review about his situation in his first interviews since a fatal car crash in February.
Speaking at his first press conference on Tuesday, the day after a lengthy video chat with Golf Digest has been releasedWoods expressed gratitude for being alive and not having to have part of his right leg amputated.
At the World of Heroes Challenge in the Bahamas, an event he hosts for his foundation, Woods also alternates between his desire to return and play competitive golf and the realization that it is unlikely to have a foot or a match. His fights may be the same.
Here are some takeaways:
Woods looks forward to playing again
It will take some time and he won’t say when. But Woods admits it’s a long way off. He also seems eager for the challenge of getting through rehab to get to the point where he can play again – even if it’s limited.
While a full schedule and all the drills needed to play at that level is undesirable, being able to pick his position seemed like an idea he liked.
“To roll out a few events of the year as Mr. [Ben] Hogan did it, he did a great job at it, and there’s no reason why I can’t do it and feel ready,” Woods said Tuesday. “I may not be good at the tournament in the sense that I haven’t played tournaments, but I think if you train properly and you do it right, I’ve had surgery before, I’ve been out of work for a long time and I’ve have won or been close to winning before. So I know the formula. I just need to get to the point where I feel comfortable enough to be able to do it again.”
The 2018-19 run is huge
Back from 2017 spine surgery to win three times, including his 15th major championship at Master’s Degree 2019, making this a bit easier to solve in terms of golfing.
Woods said he has “climbed” up the mountain a few times and doesn’t need to do it again.
“I don’t see that trend continuing for me,” he said. I just don’t. I would just have another way to do it and that’s okay. I feel at peace with that. I have climbed enough times. ”
This never seemed possible – and still doesn’t
1:50
Stephen A. Smith reflects on what he’s grateful for in relation to Tiger Woods after watching his press conference early Tuesday morning.
A three-second video about Polished Forest put the internet on fire. Odds were even announced on the possibility of winning the Masters championship in April. But the idea of playing there could never come from afar. Most of the medical staff interviewed about his injuries confirmed that it would take years of recovery. Woods himself thinks things will happen faster. However, while he looks and sounds good, the compression sock on his right foot says a lot. When asked about The Open at St. Andrews, Woods said he’d love to be there, then indulge in a dinner of champions at that tournament and the Masters.
He is managing expectations
Chances are Woods has bigger goals and that’s one of the rare times he’s trying to lower expectations – maybe even his own. He is well aware of how difficult it is to compete with the best in the world when he has a much more physically difficult time to overcome. And he knows that doing so in the late 40s is always going to be difficult. Coming back and competing again would be the ultimate achievement at this point.
He said, “I have to be good enough to do it, okay? I would chip and throw any of these guys, but longer golf courses are just a throw and hit course. We won’t be playing par-3 at Augusta to win the Masters. So I have to get a game a little bigger than that. Like I said, I have a long way to go in rehab to be able to do such things. ”
He doesn’t participate in the recommended rival golf tournaments
Woods has apparently been approached about Greg NormanLIV Golf Businesses strive to find a way to start a new golf tournament. Similar to Premier League Golf League. He said he didn’t care.
“I decided for myself that I would support the PGA Tour, that’s where my legacy is,” he said. of the World Golf Championships, their beginnings and their endings. So I have to stick with the PGA Tour.
“And I understand that some of the comparisons are very similar to when Arnold [Palmer] and Jack [Nicklaus] separate from the US PGA [as part of a separate playing division in 1968] to begin [PGA] Tour. I don’t see it like that. I think the Tour has done a great job. ”
The forest seems peaceful
Have a great week at Albany for #HeroWorldChallenge! pic.twitter.com/LpNT6ClZ4j
– Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) November 30, 2021
It has been almost nine months since the accident happened. While Woods could have spoken earlier to address his situation, he would never have done it in public while in a wheelchair and incapacitated while on crutches.
Woods waited until he was free to walk, submitted a three-second video showing him hitting a hit, then sent it to the media in a controlled setting in the Bahamas where access was restricted. limited with short notice of his arrival.
Once there, in front of the camera and the questioners again, he looked very comfortable. He deflected the question about the crash, saying the details were in the police report and that he didn’t remember anything that happened. He tries to talk around when he can come back again, which he has done dozens of times over the years. He is self-deprecating about wanting to play as a striker and can only play pitching. However, he says he knows how to get the job done even with a limited schedule.
“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 I get to the point where I can. play the Tour, will you guys be okay if I try and make it? ” Woods said. “The consensus is yes.
“At the moment, internally, I haven’t reached that point yet. I haven’t proven to myself that I can do it. I can show up here and I can host an event. I can play. a par 3. I can hit a few shots I can chip and putt but we’re talking about going out there and playing against the best in the world on the hardest golf courses of all the most difficult situation I am far from that.
“I have a long way to go to get to that point. I haven’t decided if I want to get to that point yet. I have to try to get to the point where that decision can be made. And we ‘I’ll see what happens when I get to that point, but I have a long way to go with this one.’ ‘
