Tiger Woods optimistic about playing a limited number of professional golf in the future while also being realistic about the struggles ahead, based on the perspective he has gathered from the fatal auto accident he suffered. suffered in February.
“I’m lucky to be alive and have a limb too,” Woods said Tuesday in the Bahamas, where he held his first news conference since the February 23 crash in Southern California.
Woods was at Albany Golf Club, the site of this week’s World of Heroes Challenge, an event he organized for his foundation.
He did not answer any specific questions about the crash, which happened as he crossed a winding road on his way to Rolling Hills Country Club early in the morning to fulfill his probate obligation. . He referenced the 22-page police report issued in early April.
Woods was in the hospital for three weeks after the accident and in a hospital-like bed for three months afterward. He suffered significant injuries to his right leg and foot and said it was “50-50” as to whether part of his leg could be amputated.
“This one is much harder,” Woods said, referring to the back-to-back injuries of his career. “Knees are one thing. It’s a level. Then back. With this right leg. … It’s hard to explain how difficult it is. Immobilized for three months. Just to lie there. I I just want to get out. That’s one of my goals. Especially for someone who spends his life outside, it’s a goal.
“I switched from wheelchair to crutches and now there’s nothing. It’s been a very difficult job.”
But he also admits that “there’s a long way to go.”
“In terms of playing at the tourist level, I don’t know when that will happen,” he said. “Now, I’ll play a round here or there, hit a little bit and giggle, I can do something like that. The USGA suggested Play It Forward. [the tees]. I really like that idea now. I don’t like the tees on the back. I like Play It Forward. Come on, let’s move it up, let’s move it up.
“To see some of my footage falling out of the sky a lot shorter than before, I opened my eyes a little, but at least I can do it again. That’s what it has been for a long time. didn’t see. as I intended.”
Woods has been vague about when he can start walking again and how much golf he has played but admits he has played “some holes” and posted a video on Nov. There he hit a shot from a training ground with the caption, “In progress.”
He also noted that his comeback from spinal fusion surgery in 2017 to win the 2018 Tour, the 2019 Masters and his 82nd win at the 2019 Zozo Championship makes it easy for him to accept the number. fate than now.
“I got my major last, and I’ve marked two other events along the way,” he said. “I don’t know in advance that this leg will go back to the way it was, so I’ll never be the same again and the clock is ticking. I’m getting older, I’m not young anymore. All of that comes to an end. Combination means a full schedule and a full workout and recovery routine needed to do it… no, I don’t have any desire to do that.
“But to enhance it in a few events during the year and, as I alluded to Mr. [Ben] Hogan did, and he did a pretty good job at it, and there’s no reason why I couldn’t do it and feel ready. I may not be good at tournaments in the sense that I haven’t played tournaments yet, but I think if you train properly and you do it right, I would have had surgery before. So I know the formula, I just have to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough that I can do it again. “
Hogan, who won 64 PGA Tour events and 9 major championships, was involved in his own fatal auto accident in 1949, when he and his wife, Valerie, were driving to Texas from a tournament in Phoenix. They were hit by a Greyhound bus and he suffered serious injuries, including his leg.
After the accident, Hogan never played more than nine tournaments in a year, most recently in 1950. In 1951 he played only four times, winning twice – the Masters and the US Open. In 1953, he played only six times, winning five, including all three major championships he played.
But Hogan is younger than Woods, who turns 46 on December 30.
“I have a long way to go in this leg’s rehab, and it’s not the pleasures of rehab,” Woods said. “It’s just repeats and breaks down the scar tissue and the things that really hurt. So that part isn’t going to be fun, but the challenge is. I enjoy the challenge of being in and trying. take it to the next level; sometimes two steps forward, one step back, but you have to get through it.I like that part of it and maybe one day it will be good enough for me to get out. here and I can compete with the best players in the world again.”
According to a police report issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, Woods was “driving at an unsafe speed for road conditions” and was unable to negotiate the bend of the road. According to reports, he was traveling at more than 82 mph in the 45 mph zone and it was unclear if Woods was attempting to negotiate the curve.
Instead of staying in his lane as the road curves to the right, Woods went straight into the median, hit the curb, knocked over a wooden sign and veered into the opposite lane before hitting one. tree and ran over the car.
While sitting in the interview room in Albany, Woods admitted that he was suffering from pain in his back and legs. That’s part of what he needs to get through, he said.
Despite not following any schedule or return leg, Woods was asked specifically about The Open at St. Andrews in July, where he won the championship twice.
“I’d love to be able to play that Open Championship, no doubt,” he said. “Physically, I hope I can. I have to get there first. The tournament isn’t going anywhere, but I need to get there.”
When asked about his 46th birthday, Woods joked that that means in four years “I’ll be in a trolley”, referring to the possibility that qualifying for the PGA Tour Champions will until the age of 50.
“This year is the year I want to turn the page over,” he said.
