More than nine months elapsed before Tiger Woods made substantive public comments following his Feb. 23 car crash in California. An interview with Golf Digest was released Monday, and Tuesday morning he had a press conference in the Bahamas, where he is host of the Hero World Challenge.
Given what Woods said in both forums, it might be another nine months—or more—before he knows what kind of competitive future is possible for him given the severe injuries sustained to his lower right leg and foot.
Although he has come a long way from the dark, uncertain days after the devastating accident—three weeks in the hospital, three months in a hospital bed at home—walking without a limp toward a Zoom camera or into a media room is a long way from being fit enough to play top-level golf.
It’s also a long way from his hearing that the limb was so damaged that amputation was “on the table,” as Woods phrased it to reporters. Given what we saw of Woods’ mangled automobile—he declined to address the accident itself—and what we heard about the extent of his extremity injuries in the days following the crash, the possibility that he might well have lost the leg isn’t coming out of nowhere. Still, to hear one of the greatest athletes of all-time say so was still jarring and chilling.
Woods referenced “hit-and-giggle” golf more than once as what was on the near horizon given the state of his recovery. The fact that he can make a swing—and not a bad one, if that video snippet of an iron shot he put on social media is to be believed—is cause for a simple, sincere smile.
He doesn’t know yet of what is possible on that surgically repaired leg and foot, only what isn’t. Woods seemed clear about there being no path—or more to the point, no desire to seek a path—to anything approaching full-time golf competition. His body had undergone multiple surgeries before he wrecked while speeding on a California road. Winning multiple tournaments in 2018-19—including his 15th major title—after spinal fusion was harder than he made it appear. When he was asked Tuesday how he felt, Woods said his back hurt and his leg hurt. It was a reminder that coming back to any significant golf form not only involves what was injured in the accident but physical problems/limits he already had, as well as the fact that he turns 46 years old at the end of December. When it comes to golf, his dreams might well be smaller than those possessed by so many who have been fascinated or thrilled by his play for a quarter century, who want to see another act from a man who has commanded his stage so long.
Yet in what he said over the last two days Woods himself—while acknowledging the difficulties endured and the challenges ahead—spoke hopefully of being able to get to the point of putting a scorecard in his pocket a few times a year. He cited Ben Hogan, who played sparingly but well after a bus crashed into his sedan in February 1949, causing severe injuries. Hogan was about a decade younger when his near-fatal crash occurred than Woods is now and had been mostly injury-free prior to the accident. It took a lot for Hogan to prime himself for his limited play during a period when physical therapy and recovery methods were limited to hot baths and ice packs.
Woods will have every 21st century treatment at his disposal as he moves forward in his recovery. Could he seek to utilize a riding cart in PGA Tour competition, under provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act? Woods wasn’t asked about that in the presser, but a lot must happen before the question would have meaning. For now, hitting shots—not getting from one to the next on foot—is enough of a hurdle. More than once, Woods, whose upper body shows evidence of plenty of gym work, noted that while he can hit balls and play a few holes at this stage, he doesn’t have anywhere near the power in his swing that he possessed prior to the accident. Time will tell whether that element returns, and it seems to be a key to even a limited return.
He clearly flexed his clout in pledging full allegiance to the PGA Tour at a time when rival tours are tempting players with promises of big money. If Woods’ playing career has a post-accident twilight, he made clear it won’t be with the upstart ventures. Such an endorsement to the status quo had to be music to the ears of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Woods will give away a trophy this week. Whether he will ever be in the shape to receive one after 72 holes, no one knows. There is in that broad uncertainty, given what happened, plenty to be happy about.