Tiger Woods has dropped some hints recently that he is working toward playing competitively on the PGA Tour again, but the 15-time major champion clearly understands things will never be the same for him.
Woods spoke with Dan Rapaport of Golf Digest for his first in-depth interview since his February car accident. He said he is planning to return to the PGA Tour, but he doesn’t expect to ever play full time again.
“I think something that is realistic is playing the Tour one day — never full time, ever again — but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did. Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that,” Woods said. “You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on. It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it.”
Tiger also said he feels differently about his latest comeback than he did when he returned from back fusion surgery years ago. He described a feeling of wanting to “climb Mt. Everest one more time,” which he did by winning the Masters in 2019. He doesn’t think his body will cooperate this time.
“This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb Mt. Everest and that’s OK. I can still participate in the game of golf,” Tiger said. “I can still, if my leg gets OK, I can still 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 of me.”
There is certainly a lot working against Woods. He’s 45, has a history of back problems, and is now going through another grueling rehab after suffering multiple leg fractures in February crash. It was remarkable that he won the Masters two years ago. Repeating the feat would seemingly be impossible.
All of the questions we heard about whether Tiger would ever play again were understandable. Golf fans will be happy to hear that he is not giving up, even if expectations should be tempered.
