Tiger Woods to play at Augusta
The five-time champion said he is in pain “every day” but he believes he can win the year’s first major, o
Golf legend Tiger Woods ended days of frenzied speculation on Tuesday by saying he will play in the Masters at Augusta National, which starts tomorrow.
The five-time champion said he is in pain “every day” but he believes he can win the year’s first major, only 14 months after nearly losing his right leg in an 85mph car crash.
“As of right now I feel like I am going to play,” he told a packed press conference. “I’ve been very excited about how I’ve recovered each and every day, and that’s been the challenge — how am I going to get the swelling out and recover for the next day?”
Woods suffered multiple open fractures in his right leg and a shattered ankle after rolling his car in Los Angeles in February last year.
He spent three months in hospital and admitted amputation was a possibility but said he now feels fit enough to win a 16th major on Sunday.
“I can hit it just fine,” the 46-year-old said. “I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s walking that is the hard part. This is normally not an easy walk to begin with. Now, given the condition that my leg is in, it gets even more difficult. You know, 72 holes is a long road, and it’s going to be a tough challenge — a challenge I’m up for.”
Woods said he will retire when he feels he can no longer win tournaments, but he has not reached that point. “If I can still compete at the highest level, I’m going to, and if I feel like I can still win, I’m going to play,” he said. “But if I feel like I can’t, then you won’t see me out here.”
Woods was far more pessimistic in December at the PNC Father Son Challenge in Florida, his first competitive event since his crash. Then he said: “After my back fusion [in 2017] I had to climb Mount Everest one more time. I had to do it and I did it. This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb Mount Everest, and that’s OK.
“I can still, if my leg gets OK, click off a tournament here or there. But as far as climbing the mountain again and getting all the way to the top, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation.”
Woods admitted the movement he has in his leg will not improve. “Will I feel better? Yes, I will. I’m going to get stronger, but as far as movement, probably not much. I’m so limited with the hardware in there.”
He will hope for better conditions than Tuesday when stormy weather brought an early end to the practice and the evacuation of the patrons.
Augusta National is an undulating course and one of the more difficult places for Woods to make his return, but he will draw on past achievements, such as winning the 2008 US Open with two stress fractures in his leg.
“I’ve had to endure pain before,” he said. “This is different, obviously. This is a lot more traumatic.”
Woods also explained why he is wearing FootJoy shoes, despite being contracted to Nike. “I have very limited mobility now with the rods and plates and screws that are in my leg and I needed something different.”
