“Oh, that was stiff”, he said. ‘ I get it all the time. All three tee shots landed in the water sadly. That means he’s done, right?
Advertisement
Truth be told, a buddy sent me this exchange shortly after it happened, and I didn’t know what in the world it meant.
Woods, 40, hasn’t played since August as he recovers from back surgeries. “People have written me off”. I’m progressing nicely. I’m hoping to play (the Quicken Loans).
Time, along with his brittle body, has become Woods’s chief adversary.
The 14-time major victor underwent two operations on his back in the space of six weeks last autumn and while he is edging closer to a return, his progress has been slow. In his past 20 events worldwide, he has missed six cuts and withdrawn three times. He finished 10th. Woods has fallen outside the top 500 in the world ranking.
The first of the three shots can be found below. And what level can he achieve when he does? My doctors don’t know, I don’t know’.
Parse each and every word.
“I’m progressing. I’m getting a little better”. His tournament at Congressional will be from June 23-26, the week after the US Open, and it certainly appears that Woods will attend only in a noncompetitive role.
“It would be nice to end up at No. 1 on both lists”, Woods said.
Woods joked about needing time to warm up and his demeanor suggested that perhaps the water-logged shots weren’t a awful sign of what is to come from the 14-time major championship victor. Not that he has to – Nicklaus won his record 18th major title at age 46, in the unforgettable 1986 Masters. I miss competing against these guys. He spoke of Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour victories.
Call it defiant or delusional or some combination of the two.
The latest attempt to anoint the next Tiger Woods might carry the strongest argument yet, if only because Australian Jason Day is as close a friend of Woods as anyone on the PGA Tour has ever been known to be.
“It’s brutal”, he said.
Advertisement
Is it realistic to think that Woods not only can come back, but once again return to winning big tournaments again?
