THROWING IN TOWEL JUST YET
Aching Woods insists he can still make Augusta history
DEFYING THE ODDS: Tiger celebrates his incredible comeback Masters win in 2019
Invitational in February on the seventh hole of the second round with flu-like symptoms.
And he now faces the task of walking the hilly Augusta National with nagging pain in his battered body. “I hurt every day,” he smiled. “I ache”.
Ache
Is it worse here? “No, I ache every day. And I prefer it warm and humid and hot.
“And I know we’re going to get some thunderstorms. So at least it will be hot. It won’t be like last year.”
There are storms forecast here in tomorrow’s opening rounds — where he will tee off at 1.24pm with Jason Day and Max Homa — but temperatures will still reach 24 degrees Celsius.
Woods went under the knife on his back for the fifth time in December 2020 and he had emergency surgery to save his lower right leg after the crash.
“The ankle doesn’t hurt anymore,” he explained.
“It’s fused. It’s not going anywhere. So that’s fine. It’s other parts of my body that now have to take the brunt of it.
Rods
“Once he put the rods in there, it’s good to go. But, the back, the knee, other parts of the body have to take the load of it. Things just flare up. Some days I just feel really good, and other days, not so much.”
Without his usual Nike baseball cap — he now has his
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 08: Tiger Woods of the United States looks on during a practice own clothing line Sun Day Red — Woods looked all of his 48 years in his pre-tournament press conference.
He said in December his aim had been to play once a month this year but he has not tried to play since February.
“I wasn’t ready to play,” he explained. “My body wasn’t ready. My game wasn’t ready. But now we have major championships every month from here through July.
“So now the once a month hopefully kicks in.”
Woods also revealed he is in negotiations to become the US Ryder Cup captain at Bethpage Black next year.
“We’re still talking about
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