Don’t bother to speculate when Tiger Woods might return to competitive golf.
Tiger, his ownself, simply doesn’t know.
They threw that question at him quickly as Genesis host Tiger sat in the media room on Wednesday with 27-year-old Aaron Beverly, recipient of the Charlie Sifford exemption into this Genesis Invitational at famed Riviera.
Tiger’s answer came quickly.
“I wish I could tell you when I’m playing again — I want to know but I don’t.”
Trust Tiger when he says that. You could sense his frustration. Things in Tiger’s world used to move at the speed of light — now the days are long and slow.
“My golf activity has been really limited,” he continued. “I can chip and putt pretty well, hit short irons really well but I haven’t worked on the long stuff seriously. I’m still working on the walking part.”
And it’s that “walking part” that is the biggest challenge.
Consider the amount of prep time that goes into playing a PGA Tour event. There’s Monday and Tuesday practice sessions on the course, more sessions on the range. Then there are Wednesday pro-ams, more range time, more walking. A lot of players have walked at least 36-holes before the real stuff starts on Thursday. Then it’s 72 holes (if you make the cut), more range time, more practice. What it means is a LOT of time on your feet.
“My foot (right foot) was really messed up a year ago,” Woods pointed out. “It takes time. What’s frustrating, it’s not at my timetable. I want to be at a certain place but I’m not. I’m getting better, yes, but not at a speed that I’d like.”
And therein lies the Woods dilemma.
We know he’s a rehab freak, he loves rehab, attacks it, thrives on the challenge. But he never had happen what happened a year ago when it took modern air-bag technology in that Genesis SUV to basically save his life when he rolled down that steep hill outside L.A., crushing the vehicle, mangling his right leg and foot.
Then Woods brought up his age. “Doesn’t quite heal as fast,” he lamented.
When he played at the PNC Championship with son Charlie last December, there was excitement and speculation after the two days he put in with his son.
“I was in a cart. You play in a cart and your longest walk is from the green back to the cart, then you ride to your shots. I can do that. I can play Weekend-Warrior golf.”
He can walk, but not in a golf course context.
“I can walk on a treadmill all day, that’s easy,” he said. “That’s just straight – there’s no bumps in the road. But walking on a golf course where there’s undulations, I have a long way to go. My leg was not in a very good position there about a year ago, and I’ve had to work through a lot of different operations and a lot of different scenarios.”
Someone mentioned the Wednesday par-three contest at the upcoming 2022 Masters. “I can do that, I can do that tomorrow,” Woods said quickly.
Will he?
“I dunno,” he shot back quickly.
So no, just drop the notion that Tiger Woods will play in the 2022 Masters. It’s not happening. The ceremonial par-three event? Probably not. Tiger’s not a ceremonial kinda guy.
Even the rest of this year, any event, any major in 2022 may be highly doubtful. “I wish I could spend more time on the range — but that’s not realistic,” Woods confessed.
Then Woods reminded that there are still back issues to deal with.
“It’s been tough, but I’ve gotten here,” Woods said. He also said playing in the PNC with Charlie, “gave me hope.”
It’s been brutal just for him to get to the point where he’s walking unaided.
“I’ve gotten this far, and I still have a long way to go. Each and every day’s a fight, and I welcome that fight. Get up in the morning, let’s go a few more rounds.”
And so we wait, and hope, probably as Tiger is hoping.
It’s a certainty that at this point that he will eventually play again. When and where he’ll play again is uncertain.
“I will be back,” Tiger assured, emphasizing that.
But he added and sadly, Tiger Woods will never again play a full schedule.
Baby steps folks, baby steps.
Tiger still has a long road ahead of him.
How long?
No one knows for sure.
Editor’s take/wild guess/speculation: I believe we can forget about Tiger playing in the 2022 Masters. In fact, our take is that we won’t see him compete in any of the majors or other PGA Tour events this year. We do believe he will show up, walk and play with son Charlie at the PNC in November and then will make his return to actual competition at his own Hero Open next December in the Bahamas.
