Like a cat out of slumber, the golfing community did a full stretch of collective relief at the Valhalla Golf Club. The venue of the 96th PGA Championship is buzzing with energy for a few hours now, ever since learning that Tiger Woods will indeed present himself at the starting tee on Thursday. The media covering golf has borne the brunt of his absence this year – having suffered a perceptible dip in interest during his time out for recovery. So they were an obviously relieved bunch to learn that Woods will play the final major of the season.
Woods had limped out of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last week, causing serious doubt about his ability to play again this season. Even though Joe LaCava arrived at Valhalla on Monday, there was still uncertainty around Woods participation in the PGA Championship this week. Woods had a surgery in March for a pinched nerve in his back and there were fears that there may have been a recurrence.
But Woods arrived at the club yesterday and played the front nine with Harris English, Steve Stricker and Davis Love before speaking with the media to confirm his participation. “I knew it was not the site of the surgery. This is different,” assured Woods. Assuring them that the problem was a displaced sacrum bone, he informed them the physio had “popped it back in.”
“My physio is here so if it goes out he is able to fix it,” said Woods. “I still need to build up strength and it’s going to take more time. The treatment has been fantastic, once the bone was put back in the spasms went away and from there I started to get some range of motion.”
Despite the concerns about his health, Woods chose to be upbeat about his prospects this week “I had my book from 2000 but it’s useless. Joey has been here and got a pretty good handle on it,” said Woods. “I feel pretty good about how I played. I need to get more of a feel how this course is playing. I’m going to try and go out and win this event, that’s all I’m focusing on.”
Report by Anand Datla
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Pic: PGA Tour Website
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