Camila Sosa
On April 7, the world of golf could once again enjoy the best player of all times, Tiger Woods, after he has not withdrawn his name from the participants of the Augusta Masters.
According to a report by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, on Tuesday Woods arrived in Augusta and played all 18 holes of the Augusta National Golf Club in view of what could be his presentation in the tournament and his return as a player in official competitions.
Let’s keep in mind that Tiger Woods has not played a tournament since November 2020 when the Masters of that year was held after being delayed by COVID-19. Months after that tournament, in February 2021, Woods suffered a huge car accident in which he suffered several fractures in his right leg and which he was about to lose.
“I wish I could tell you when I’ll be playing again,” Woods said Feb. 16. “I want to know, but I don’t know. My golf activity has been very limited. I hit the short irons very well, but I haven’t given long irons seriously. I’m still working on that.”
According to Schlabach’s source, Woods practiced alongside his son Charlie and Justin Thomas, a close friend of Tiger’s and also a PGA Tour participant. “He played each of them and for me he looked very good,” said the journalist’s informant.
Precisely his son Charlie has played a very important role in the possible return of Tiger Woods since last December they participated together in the PNC Championship, an exhibition tournament in which parents and children of the PGA Tour play and in which they were in second position after the experienced golfer mobilized, mostly, by cart.
“I was in a cart and I can play like that on the weekends. That’s easy. But being out there and playing six rounds of golf: practice round, the Pro-Am round and four competitive days, I can’t do that. The cumulative effect of all that is very strong,” confessed the five-time winner of the legendary tournament.
The Augusta Masters is one of the most difficult tournaments to play due to its extensive course that includes very demanding hills for the participants. That is precisely the litmus test for the Golf Hall of Fame, who lost a lot of muscle mass in his leg and who on another occasion assured that he would never ask the PGA for the exception of a cart to play again.
“I can walk on a treadmill all day. That’s easy. It is straight. There are no bumps in the road,” Woods continued. “But walking on a golf course, where there are undulations, I still have a long way to go to get to that.”
Tiger Woods’ Injury History
Tiger Woods, a 15-time Grand Slam champion at the PGA, has a wealth of experience when it comes to returning from injuries.
Between 2014 and 2017, the 46-year-old underwent four back surgeries, the last one being a spinal fusion in 2017. Following the latter, Woods won the TOUR Championship in late 2018, marking his official return to the winners’ circle after five years.
Less than a year later, in April 2019, Woods would give another show of greatness by triumphing in his fifteenth Grand Slam, the 2019 Masters, being his first major victory in more than a decade and positioning himself as the player with the most Majors in the history of the Tour.
