Legendary golfer Tiger Woods addressed the media this week. It was his first interview since a violent car crash in Southern California threatened to take his life and golf career in February.
In an interview Tiger did on Monday with Golf Digest, he acknowledged moments in the hospital where he thought he might lose his leg. He did talk about how he doesn’t believe he will ever play full-time on the PGA Tour again.
Reality Check
“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 said during an interview with Golf Digest.
“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.”
However, the world knows better than to doubt Tiger Woods.
Buried under a mountain of shame, scandal, and debilitating injuries, Tiger faces his legendary golf career curtail. The consensus opinion around the golf world was that Tiger would never regain the elite dominance that had defined his incomparable brand.
Despite a five-year battle overcoming medical procedures and his personal demons, Tiger has been through it all. Including a rock bottom moment caught on video that became the turning point for his historical redemption song. However, Tiger fought his way back to the top of the golf world.
.@TigerWoods' first interview back.
Watch here: https://t.co/OD1cd7OU9D pic.twitter.com/4YP2Nro1nz
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 29, 2021
Tiger is no stranger to dark moments and unfathomable heights. His life has run the gamut of redemption and ruin, and reincarnation.
True Inspiration
However, his daughter Sam and son Charley are his biggest inspiration, and reflection over the toll injury has taken on his career is the basis for his latest decision.
Tournament host @TigerWoods meets with the media at the Hero World Challenge. 🎤 https://t.co/8T05NMTFKf
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2021
“They’ve known me more for being injured than healthy. Most of their lives I was going through my back operations so I was the guy sitting in the chair right in front of the TV playing Call of Duty, while they’re at school and I had to just sit there and let it heal,” said Tiger during his press conference.
“So they would just play around me. They were so little. It was a surprise to them when they realized I could actually play the game.”
Tigers always talk about how he wants to be healthy to teach them the game and play with them.
“That’s why the Masters was such an important family moment for all of us: my mom, Sam and Charley, all my friends because … That’s what they’ve seen. That’s not what they’ve grown up with. They don’t remember any of the other times because they weren’t alive yet, or they’re too young to remember. So in this case, it’s like, ‘Uh, back to normal again. Dad’s not able to move.’
“So little things like that. To really go out there now and be able to do activities with them. To watch my daughter play her soccer games and Charley play tournaments and talk to them about it and see them grow up. And here is the verbiage that has changed as kids grow up. It’s a bit of an eye-opener at times. The lingo changes very quickly so, I’m trying to keep up.”
More from our partners:
