Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Author
Tiger Woods stated Tuesday that he is not near being bodily able to play in PGA Tour tournaments and has a “lengthy solution to go” earlier than he is capable of compete in opposition to the world’s greatest golfers once more.
Woods, 48, shouldn’t be enjoying on this week’s Hero World Problem, an unofficial occasion he hosts within the Bahamas.
“I am not tournament-sharp but,” Woods instructed reporters throughout a information convention within the Bahamas. “No, I am nonetheless not there. And these are 20 of the perfect gamers on this planet, and I am not sharp sufficient to compete in opposition to them at this degree. Once I’m able to compete and play at this degree, then I’ll.”
When Woods was requested whether or not he nonetheless has a want to compete on tour, he stated, “The hearth nonetheless burns to compete.”
Editor’s Picks
“So far as the restoration technique of going on the market and doing it time and again and once more and doing it persistently at a excessive degree, for some motive, the physique simply will not recuperate prefer it used to,” Woods stated. “That is a part of age and a part of an athlete’s journey.”
The 15-time main champion introduced in mid-September that he had undergone what’s believed to be his sixth again surgical procedure. He stated his again damage brought about ache down his leg, which grew to become progressively worse throughout this previous season.
Woods has undergone a number of procedures to restore injury in his proper foot and leg brought on by accidents he suffered in a automotive wreck in February 2021.
Woods did not point out when he hoped to return to the tour. Final yr, the previous world No. 1 golfer stated he hoped to play as soon as a month. He made 5 begins on tour in 2024, lacking three cuts and withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational due to sickness. He completed sixtieth on the Masters, which was final amongst golfers who made the lower.
“I did not assume my again was going to go prefer it did this yr,” Woods stated. “It was fairly painful all through the tip of the yr, and therefore I had one other process achieved to alleviate the ache I had taking place my leg. And so, what are my commitments going ahead? Is it as soon as a month? Yeah, I may say that over again, however I really do not know. I am simply attempting to rehab and nonetheless get stronger and higher and really feel higher and actually give myself the perfect probability I can going to subsequent yr.”
“So far as the restoration technique of going on the market and doing it time and again and once more and doing it persistently at a excessive degree, for some motive, the physique simply will not recuperate prefer it used to. That is a part of age and a part of an athlete’s journey.”
Tiger Woods
Woods wasn’t requested whether or not he’ll play within the PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, together with his son Charlie in two weeks. He would be capable to use a golf cart in that occasion. He hosts the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Nation Membership outdoors Los Angeles on Feb. 13-16. The Masters, the primary main of the season, will likely be performed April 10-13.
“I am simply progressively attempting to check it,” Woods stated. “Maintain making progress, with out setting it off. I do not need to have any setbacks. Simply need to hold making progress and provides myself the perfect probability going to subsequent yr as potential. I really feel like I am getting stronger, I am getting extra pliable, however I acquired an extended solution to go to have the ability to compete in opposition to these guys.”
Woods, who’s vice chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises board, stated the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund had been ongoing. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the PIF signed a framework settlement to kind an alliance, the deadline for that deal expired Dec. 31, 2023. The edges have continued to barter over the previous 11 months.
Any potential deal between PGA Tour Enterprises and the PIF must be accredited by the U.S. Division of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
“I feel all of us who’ve been part of this course of would have thought it will have occurred faster than this,” Woods stated. “Even when it did, we’re nonetheless on the laws of the DOJ saying it is giving us [assurance] that it’s going to undergo. Even when we had gotten a deal achieved by now, it is nonetheless within the DOJ’s palms.
“However we want we’d have had one thing extra concrete and additional alongside than we’re proper now. However issues are very fluid, we’re nonetheless working by way of it, it is taking place every day. From a coverage board standpoint or from an enterprise standpoint, issues are transferring and so they’re constructive. However sure, positively transferring.”
