But focusing on golf for a moment, Woods also revealed just how bad his back has been over the past few years.
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“I’ve no answer”, he said when pressed for a return date. Neither does my surgeon or my physio. “There is no timetable for this and that’s been the hardest adjustment – that I don’t know”, he explained recently.
The 14-time major champion this week painted a bleak picture of his future in the game at a press conference of the Hero World Challenge tournament he hosts, saying: “there is no light at the end of the tunnel”.
Asked about what physical activity he is able to do, Woods replied: “I walk”.
While Woods is known for his athletic physique and obsessive workout regime, he admitted he has only been able to “walk…and I walk and I walk some more”. Woods said he hopes to “get after it with these guys” on tour again, but he conceded anything “is gravy” at this point.
Tiger has been on the declining years and the sun is setting on an illustrious career of major championships and over 100 professional wins worldwide.
Woods was the number one golfer in the world for 683 weeks, but now his injuries have dropped him to number 400 in the rankings.
Woods turns 40 on December 30 and whether he can add to his 79 victories on the PGA Tour must be open to serious debate. “The most important thing, though, is that I get to have a life with my kids”.
“For my 20 years out here, I achieved a lot”, said Woods.
Here’s hoping TIger Woods didn’t watch Kobe Bryant play JaKarr Sampson and the 76ers on Tuesday. Very big questions these are but no one seems to have answers, not even Mr Woods himself. He is not going to retire just four majors short of tying Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record.
Woods said he was inspired by how some of the other sporting greats overcome adversity and keep performing.
“But I think we certainly haven’t seen the end of him, even if he does say that if the sun sets on the career now, it’s still good”.
This news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, especially considering the 39-year-old has been struggling on the course and with injuries recently.
Woods has now undergone back surgery three times and not swung a club in anger since September. Maybe. “Hopefully, the day-by-day adds up to something positive here soon”.
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“If I was a betting man, my money would be on him sitting on a buggy and not having his clubs anywhere near Hazeltine, not just on fitness but on form as well”, says BBC golf correspondent, Iain Carter.
