Tiger Woods escaped death in February 2021. Now on his own two feet, he sees the light at the end of the tunnel and wants to turn the page on this year of turmoil.
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At his first press conference since his terrible traffic accident on February 23 in the suburbs of Los Angeles, the Tiger took stock with lucidity for 40 minutes on his state of health.
It had been a long time since he had been seen so relaxed, smiling and blowing several jokes. On the sidelines of his Hero World Challenge tournament on Tuesday at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas, the golfer who turns 46 on December 30 admitted he’s living better days and sees the light at the end of the tunnel.
For the past nine months he has gone through very dark days in pain. Bedridden in hospital for three weeks where the doctors even considered the amputation of his right leg, he then remained in bed for three months at home.
Long process
Will he ever come back in great shape?
Never. With humility, he also accepts his fate.
His rehabilitation is going well, but the long process is one of the most difficult of his ten career surgeries. His age, his limited physical capacities and the condition of his leg made his rehabilitation more complex.
A video recently posted on social media where he is seen swinging a ball foreshadows that he is still alive with his passion for golf. It is important not to circle the date of a possible return to the aisles of the PGA circuit.
“There is still a long way to go. I cannot say when the day will come when I will be able to perform on this circuit. For now, I can play here and there while walking, explained the one who returned to the courses. I see my balls falling from the sky less far, which opens my eyes. At least I am able to play again. I couldn’t believe it for quite a while. “
Among the good signs, colleagues in the press in the Bahamas did not see Woods pulling the paw. Even he took the chest by adding muscles to the arms and shoulders.
Surely the side effects of having been on crutches for months in his huge castle in Jupiter, Florida.
In an interview with the magazine Golf Digest, On Monday, Woods warned he would not be returning full time to the PGA Tour. If he makes a return, it will be part-time, choosing his outings.
When ?
That’s the $ 1 million question. He wants to be present at Augusta and the Open in St Andrews this summer. Everything will depend on his rehabilitation and his level of play.
Already, the man with 82 PGA Tour victories has warned that he doesn’t plan to spend as much energy as he once did to return to the game. He has climbed his “Everest” enough times in his career. career to know that he no longer wants to take this route.
“With the condition of my leg, I don’t have so many opportunities to practice and prepare. I will have to change my preparation. This is my reality and I am at peace with it.
“My leg will never be the way it was again, and neither will my back. The clock keeps ticking. I’m getting old. All of these factors in the equation mean that I no longer have the desire to compete in a full schedule of events and training, ”he said.
This presence and these explanations nevertheless suggest that fans could see him again in 2022.
In a different light
Tiger Woods is human. After dominating his sport for three decades, signing 108 professional victories around the world, having risen among the greatest athletes on the planet, the Tiger gives up.
This February 2021 accident which could have cost him his life crushed more than his right leg. He crushed hopes of unmistakably raising himself as the greatest of all time.
He no longer has the energy and the ability to fight fiercely to smash a last record, that of the 18 major titles held by Jack Nicklaus.
Both strong in this umpteenth test of life and vulnerable to his future, Woods presented himself in a different light on Tuesday in the Bahamas. He admitted to winning his 15th and final Grand Slam tournament in this great feat accomplished in Augusta in April 2019.
Warning signs
In a month, he will be celebrating his 46th birthday with his family. With the exception of Phil Mickelson last May, winning a major title after 45 years is extremely rare.
In fact, Woods has been repeating since his last return to the game in 2018, after a 10th surgery, that he no longer sees his career as before.
I remember as if it was Tuesday from his press conference at the launch of the 2019 Masters Tournament. He had nothing more to prove with his four green jackets. In a crowded room, a colleague from Washington Post asked him what motivated him to continue. With a broad smile, he replied teasingly: “Because I want to win.”
And five days later he was triumphing under awe-inspiring circumstances. By roaring to cement his place among the cream of the sporting kingdom.
Three months later, on a rainy Friday in Northern Ireland, he was excluded from the Open weekend rounds at Royal Portrush. His back aching from the humidity and coolness of the ocean reminded him of his age.
Standing on the podium where he was responding to an army of journalists at his feet, he had explained his setbacks. Without being able to train as much, he could not deliver the same results. Amateurs had to get used to it.
“Life is changing. You have to adapt, ”he said, promising never to give up.
Natural cycle
He no longer sees life in the same way since this terrible accident. The clock is turning. Woods’s is no different. It is the cycle of life.
He now wishes to deepen his heritage by guiding the young wolves on his heels.
Woods is human. He wouldn’t have said that not so long ago.
