Tiger Woods is back. After several months away from competition, recovering from his physical problems and improving the general condition of the leg he injured in a serious traffic accident at the beginning of 2021, the Californian returns this week to high-level golf by playing in the Hero World Challenge, a reduced ‘field’ tournament, full of stars, in which he acts as host in Albany, Bahamas. And as a novelty, his caddie will be Rob McNamara, Vice President of TGR Ventures.
But before showing on the field what the state of his game is and to what extent his physique allows him to continue competing at the elite, the Tiger has appeared before the media in a very interesting press conference, as usual every time he stands in front of the microphones, in which he has left several headlines. Perhaps the one that most catches the attention of his followers, in which he talks about his expectations for the next year: “My best scenario is one tournament a month and I think it’s realistic”.
Does Tiger believe he is still in a position to win? “Absolutely”. The Californian has played a lot in recent months, but is looking forward to competing again: “I love playing, I love competing, I miss being here with the guys, the atmosphere, the jokes… What motivates me is how much I like to compete. There will come a time, I haven’t fully realized yet, when I won’t be able to win again. When it comes, I’ll leave”.
Tiger Woods has arrived. pic.twitter.com/7Cre3sEAUL
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 28, 2023
Looking at the Genesis and THE PLAYERS
With his desire to play a tournament a month and his sights set on the Genesis Invitational in February and THE PLAYERS in March, Woods sees this Hero World Challenge as a trial by fire: “The date it is played, at the end of the year, with the injuries I’ve had, and the tournament itself, as a reduced ‘field’, prepares me for expectations for 2024. It’s a good landing point, a springboard for next year”.
There is great expectation, once again, to see how he is physically, especially that ankle that has been bothering him for a while: “After the interventions I have undergone in the last two years I knew that at some point they were going to have to ‘replace’ my ankle or fuse it. The schedule accelerated. They didn’t expect me to exert so much force on the ankle hitting drivers, the doctors were surprised. And the way to fix it was to replace it or fuse it, we chose the subtalar fusion. Then I had to do nothing for six months, that was the hard part. The first two months were really tough”.
“I’m as curious as you are to see what happens,” he said. “I have none of the pain I suffered in Augusta in the ankle,” he revealed, although he acknowledged that he loads other areas to compensate. However, the operation he underwent, apparently, was a complete success and now, having to walk in a tournament, like this week, does not seem to be among his biggest concerns.
Other current topics for Woods
The Tiger also took the opportunity to talk about other issues, such as the importance of assuming a role in the PGA Tour Policy Board and Rory McIlroy‘s decision to resign: “We have to protect the circuit, its integrity and its players. I understand Rory‘s reasons for making that decision. We spent a lot of time at the Delaware meeting… He was in play in all the tournaments he played and was a spokesperson at the same time, I totally understand”.
Rory‘s TGL project, finally delayed until 2025, also has to do with this: “I think we can take advantage of the delay, we can do it well and all the parties involved thought it was the best. There are many partners involved in this league who have a lot of brand experience”.
