Tiger Woods expressed optimism about his latest return to golf this week at the Hero World Challenge, his first tournament since withdrawing from the Masters in April.
“My game feels rusty,” Woods said on Tuesday morning. “I haven’t played in a while. I’m just as curious as all of you as to what’s going to happen.”
Woods is making his comeback seven months after leaving mid-tournament at Augusta National to undergo subtalar fusion surgery on his right ankle.
“I don’t have any of the pain that I had at Augusta in my ankle. That surgery was a success,” Woods stated. “My knee hurts, my back, the forces move to somewhere else.”
🎙️ @TigerWoods talks to the media before teeing it up at the Hero World Challenge. https://t.co/9qrgeFWjeU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 28, 2023
The ankle injury stemmed from a serious car crash in 2021 that nearly resulted in amputation. Woods indicated the fusion was inevitable regardless due to bone-on-bone arthritis.
“At some point of time I would have had to had my ankle replaced or fused,” he explained. “That timeframe was sped up. The ankle just went, it was bone on bone.”
Woods said the most difficult aspect of recovery was forced inactivity in subsequent months.
“Unfortunately, I’ve had some experience with that,” he remarked. “I’m here on the good side now.”
As for plans going forward, Woods insists he isn’t interested in ceremonial appearances just for show. In fact, he laid out a pretty optimistic schedule for himself in 2024.
“I think the best (case) scenario is maybe a tournament a month,” Woods said. “I think that’s realistic. That starts at Genesis (in February), and then something in March, maybe The Players. They have set up right now the calendar, the biggest events are one per month, so it sets itself up for that.
“Now, I need to get myself ready for all that, and I think this week is a big step in that direction.”
Asked if he believes he can still win on the PGA Tour, Woods definitively replied with one word.
“Absolutely.”
