Golf legend says injury rehabilitation has been the toughest as \u2018my leg isn\u2019t quite right yet\u2019
\n MIAMI
\nTiger Woods is looking forward to his first competitive rounds since suffering career-threatening leg injuries in a February car crash, but he said Friday the PNC Championship family tournament is no gauge of his readiness for the PGA Tour.
\n\u201cI still have a long way to go in this rehab process,\u201d said the 15-time major champion, who suffered compound fractures in his right leg after the car he was driving in a Los Angeles suburb veered off the road and flipped several times.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t have the endurance to be out here to play at the tour level.
\n\u201cThis is different,\u201d he said after playing a pre-tournament pro-am round on Friday. \u201cI can hit around here, drop a ball here, hit a few wedges, do that.
\n\u201cBut to go out there and have 220 yards and know that you have to hit a 3- or 4-iron and miss the ball in the correct spot, and then hit certain shots and one stroke determines whether you win or lose, that\u2019s a totally different mindset than what we have out here this week. I\u2019m not there yet.\u201d
\nBut Woods is up for a second straight appearance in the event alongside 12-year-old son Charlie, something that wasn\u2019t on his radar as he spent three months in bed after his accident.
\n\u201cJust the fact that I\u2019m able to play and have this experience with him and watch him, watch him hit shots or encourage him to hit shots,\u201d Woods said of the value of the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing I can do, I can think my way around 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 to hit it, things of that nature and make sure that he\u2019s in his little bubble and he\u2019s having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woods, who returned from 2017 spinal fusion surgery to win his fifth Masters title, and 15th major crown, in 2019, said this injury rehabilitation has been the hardest of many in his career.<\/p>\n
When he was finally up and about, Woods said Friday, there wasn\u2019t a day when he didn\u2019t work on something.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven days where I didn\u2019t feel very good, we worked on something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As he works to regain swing speed and generate length, Woods said even walking an entire round would be beyond him right now. For this event, he can use a cart.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy leg is not quite right yet and it\u2019s going to take time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That won\u2019t stop fans and pundits from parsing every aspect of his game, wondering if he might be able to resume his pursuit of more major championship — possibly even Jack Nicklaus\u2019s record of 18 — as soon as next year.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll get another look, too, at Charlie, who displayed a sweet swing eerily similar to his father\u2019s last year, as well as a classic Woods fist-pump and club twirl.<\/p>\n
Woods said he wasn\u2019t consciously imparting either the game or the mannerisms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m his father, I\u2019m not his coach,\u201d Woods said. \u201cAnd so if he wants to learn about the game of golf, he\u2019ll ask. I\u2019m there as a sounding board.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his current limitations, there\u2019s still no doubt that for the hyper-competitive Woods his family bonding would be brightened by a victory over world number six Justin Thomas and his father Mike, who won the event last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely close with the family and we do a lot of things together,\u201d Woods said of the Thomases, their neighbours in Florida.<\/p>\n
That included a Christmas visit at Woods\u2019s house last year, where the Thomases wore the belts they were awarded for their PNC Championship win.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, we don\u2019t want them wearing that belt again, so we are going to give it our best,\u201d Woods said. \u201cChristmas dinner wasn\u2019t quite as pleasurable last year as it hopefully will be this year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Golf legend says injury rehabilitation has been the toughest as \u2018my leg isn\u2019t quite right yet\u2019 MIAMI Tiger Woods is looking forward to his first competitive rounds since suffering career-threatening leg injuries in a February car crash, but he said Friday the PNC Championship family tournament is no gauge of his readiness for the PGA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-233763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n