30 November 2021: In an interview with Henni Koyack (nee Zuel) on Golf TV, Tiger Woods was a picture of optimism and energy. He expressed an hope to play on the PGA TOUR, even though he admitted that he will never ever play full time again.
The conversation was the first comprehensive conversation with Tiger Woods since his accident in February when his right foot suffered several fractures. Woods endured a damaged ankle and comminuted open fractures, breaking his fibula and tibia in the right leg.
Woods is also scheduled to interact with the press at 0900am Eastern (1930hrs IST) on Wednesday from the Albany Golf Course in the Bahamas. Henrik Stenson is defending his title this week in the Hero World Challenge, hosted by Woods.
.@TigerWoods' first interview back.
Watch here: https://t.co/OD1cd7OU9D pic.twitter.com/4YP2Nro1nz
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 29, 2021
Woods believes that a return to action is a distinct possibility.
“I think something that is realistic is playing the TOUR one day — never full time, ever again — but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did. Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that,” Woods told Henni.
“You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on. It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it. … There was a point in time when, I wouldn’t say it was 50/50, but it was damn near there if I was going to walk out of that hospital with one leg.”
Just four years away from his 50th birthday, the best of his days are certainly behind the 15-time major winner. But as he showed us in 2019, returning after having his back fused in a major surgery, Woods can dial his best on a good Sunday.
“I don’t have to compete and play against the best players in the world to have a great life,” Woods said. “After my back fusion, I had to climb Mt. Everest one more time. I had to do it, and I did. This time around, I don’t think I’ll have the body to climb Mt. Everest and that’s OK.
“I can still participate in the game of golf. I can still, if my leg gets OK, I can still click off a tournament here or there. But as far as climbing the mountain again and getting all the way to the top, I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation of me.”
This is going to be another long and arduous comeback for Woods.
“I have so far to go. … I’m not even at the halfway point,” he said. “I have so much more muscle development and nerve development that I have to do in my leg. … I’m able to walk on my own now but I still struggle going up or down. The next progression is can you walk without a hitch in your giddy up… well that’s going to take time.
“I am able to chip and putt and do other things, swing clubs, but there’s no endurance. Because I haven’t built it up yet especially golf endurance. I haven’t done it enough, so I get tired. When that leg, my right leg gets tired, it’s time to shut it down.”
One of the complications for Woods is the extended link between his rehabilitation with the leg and its potential affect on the back, which has taken five surgeries.
“As the leg gets stronger, sometimes the back may act up. … It’s a tough road,” he added. “But I’m just happy to be able to go out there and watch Charlie play or go in the backyard and have an hour or two by myself with no one talking, no music, no nothing. I just hear the birds chirping. That part I’ve sorely missed.”
Meanwhile, Woods has been keeping busy training son Charlie and watch him make progress with golf.
“I went to golf tournaments to watch him play, and I’m looking at some of these scores he’s shooting and I said, How the hell are you shooting such high scores? I gotta go check this out,” Woods said.
“So I’d watch him play and he’s going along great, he has one bad hole, he loses his temper, his temper carries him over to another shot and another shot and it compounds itself. I said, ‘Son, I don’t care how mad you get. Your head could blow off for all I care just as long as you’re 100% committed to the next shot. That’s all that matters. That next shot should be the most important shot in your life. It should be more important than breathing. Once you understand that concept, then I think you’ll get better. And as the rounds went on throughout the summer, he’s gotten so much better.”
Making progress pic.twitter.com/sVQkxEHJmq
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) November 21, 2021
Woods nearly broke the internet with a short clip, swinging at a range. “Making progress,” he quipped. The world will watch as he continues his rehabilitation, hoping to see him at the Masters in 2022.
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