Tiger Woods looks forward to his first competitive run since battling career-threatening leg injuries February car accident, but he said Friday’s PNC Championship family tournament didn’t measure up to his preparation for the PGA Tour. “I still have a long way to go in this rehab process,” said the 15-time major champion, who suffered a compound fracture in his right leg while driving in a Los Angeles suburb, off the road. Slipped and flipped several times.
“I don’t have the stamina to be out here to play at Tour level.
“It’s different,” he said on Friday after playing a pre-tournament Pro-Am round. “I can hit here and there, drop the ball here, hit some wedges, I can do that.
“But to go there and have 220 yards and know that you have to hit a 3- or 4-iron and miss the ball in the right spot, and then hit a few shots and set a stroke Whether you win or lose, it’s a completely different mindset from what we have here this week.
“I’m not there yet.”
But Woods is set for a second straight appearance at the event with son Charlie, 12, something that was not on his radar as he spent three months in bed following his accident.
Woods said of the importance of the week, “Just the fact that I’ve been able to play and experience this with him and encourage him to watch, see him hit shot or shoot him.” “The only thing I can do is think about the golf course. I may not be able to execute it, but I can help strategize some of his shots, where to hit it, how Get killed, things of that nature and make sure he’s in his own little bubble and he’s having fun.”
Woods, who returned from spinal fusion surgery in 2017 to win his fifth Masters title and 15th major crown in 2019, said this. Injury rehabilitation has been the hardest in his career,
Woods said on Friday that when he was finally ready, there was not a day he hadn’t worked on something.
“Even on days where I didn’t feel great, we worked on something,” he said.
As he works to gain swing speed and generate length, Woods said that even walking a full round would be beyond him. He can use the vehicle for this event.
“My leg isn’t quite right now and it’s going to take time,” he said.
father not coach
That won’t stop fans and pundits from parsing every aspect of his game, wondering whether he might be able to resume more major championships as soon as next year – possibly Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18.
They’ll also take another look at Charlie, who performed a melodious swing similar to his father’s last year, as well as a classic Woods fist-pump and club twirl.
Woods said he was intentionally not playing either game or modus operandi.
“I’m his father, I’m not his coach,” Woods said. “And so if he wants to learn about the game of golf, he’ll ask. I’m there as a sounding board.”
Despite his current limitations, there’s still no doubt that his familial bond to the hyper-competitive Woods will be brightened by victories over world number six Justin Thomas and his father Mike, who won the competition last year.
“We’re very close to family and we do a lot of things together,” Woods said of Thomas, his neighbors in Florida.
publicized
It also included a Christmas trip to Woods’ home last year, where Thomas wore the belt he was given to win the PNC championship.
“You know, we don’t want them to wear that belt again, so we’re going to give it our best,” Woods said. “Christmas dinner was not as pleasant last year as it is expected to be this year.”
Topics mentioned in this article
,