The last comeback of Tiger Woods | Sports

It’s Tiger’s last comeback. Or will it be the penultimate one? You never know when dealing with an athlete who has died and been resurrected so many times. The winner of 15 majors returns to the competition this Thursday in the tournament he organizes, the Hero World Challenge (7:30 p.m., Movistar Golf), in Albany (Bahamas), and after yet another trip through the operating room and another seven months of break . El Tigre withdrew from the last Augusta Masters when the third day had not concluded and was the last in the classification among those who made the cut, the 23rd in a row for him in his garden. He was a lame man who could barely stand without his legs shaking. The golf club was almost more useful to him as a cane than as a playing tool. Ten days later he underwent surgery on his right ankle, the last page in a medical report that includes a dozen operations on his knees and back and a traffic accident in February 2021 that almost cost him his right leg. Today, 236 days after that April 8 in Augusta, he will once again stand on the one tee and point to the flag. In a month, on December 30, he will turn 48 years old.

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“I love playing, I love competing, I miss it. There will come a time when you can’t win again. “Then I’ll leave,” says Tiger before going out into the ring. Since that day when he lost control of his vehicle at high speed, he has barely suffered flash flashes. In 2022 he was 47th at the Masters, retired at the PGA Championship and missed the cut at the 150th British Open at Saint Andrews. This year, a smaller ration: 45º in the Genesis and a white flag in the Masters. Not even Woods is able to anticipate what player he is now. “I’m curious to see what happens. My golf is a little rusty because I haven’t played in a long time. The doctors were surprised by the force he exerted on his ankle by hitting drives. I had surgery and had to do nothing for six months. The first two were very hard. Now my ankle doesn’t hurt like it did in Augusta, although my knees and back do,” he explains.

The last surgery gives him a halo of hope. His great suffering was the simplest thing in the game, walking the course for 18 holes without twisting. Any session ended in long ice baths. Today that toll seems less painful, and he has already tried himself by caddying for his 14-year-old son Charlie for three days in a junior tournament. He could resist it. And that convinced him to return. The final touch-up to that body full of seams had worked, and today Tiger looks to the medium term. In two weeks he will play with Charlie in the PNC Championship, a family tag team event. “My best case scenario is one tournament a month, that’s realistic,” says Woods. That would mean playing the Genesis in February, the Players in March… and of course, in April the Masters, where he last resurrected in 2019, his 15th major, three away from Jack Nicklaus’ 18. His temple. In his mind may not be reaching the Golden Bear, but breaking the tie with Sam Snead as the biggest winners on the American circuit, with 82 victories each.

Woods is currently number 1,328 in the world rankings. His future is so uncertain that even Joe LaCava, his caddy for 12 years, broke up with him to carry Patrick Cantlay’s bag. In the Bahamas, Tiger will be accompanied by Rob McNamara, and the casting call to be his partner next year is open. Meanwhile, Tiger continues as the standard bearer of the PGA Tour in the conflict against the groundbreaking Saudi League, and the virtual competition that he organizes has been postponed until 2025. Until then, what will become of Tiger?

“Nadal goes beyond the pain”

They are two wounded champions. A thread unites Tiger Woods and Rafa Nadal, two athletes accustomed to both success and suffering due to injuries. While the Spanish tennis player finalizes his recovery to return to the courts and compete again at the highest level, Tiger Woods looks in the mirror of the Balearic Islands and finds reasons for optimism. If Nadal is capable of one last dance at 37, he also wants to try it even if he is a decade older. “What Rafa has done is extraordinary,” says Tiger about the winner of 22 majors, two behind Novak Djokovic. “He won an Australian Open with a broken foot. He goes beyond pain and competitiveness. The passion with which he plays is inspiring.” Like him, Woods also won a lame Grand Slam title, the 2008 US Open. “Nadal is more than tough and more than competitive. He knows the time is here. All athletes face it. Although in some sports it happens faster than others, and unfortunately, like in all sports, you age. I don’t want him to leave. I never wanted to see Federer leave, but that’s what happened. We should all enjoy watching him compete, watching him play and what he has meant to the game, what he has meant to all of us, seeing the passion with which he plays and why he plays,” the American golfer reflected on the Spanish tennis player.

The admiration is mutual. Asked about his sporting idols, Nadal has always pointed out Tiger Woods as one of the few true references of him at the highest level. Today, beyond the summit, the fight against withdrawal unites them.

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2023-11-30 04:15:00
#comeback #Tiger #Woods #Sports