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FLORIDA. — Tiger Woods says he feels stronger than last year as he prepares to make another emotional return to the Masters golf tournament.
A year ago, Woods stunned the golf world by playing in the Masters, 14 months after sustaining serious leg injuries in a 2021 car crash.
The 15-time major champion struggled to walk 72 holes and finished 47th at Augusta National but says his fitness and strength has improved dramatically heading into this week’s showpiece in Georgia.
“My core is so much stronger than it was then,” Woods said. “That’s one of the reasons why I’ve got the (Club) speed that I have.
“I’ve had to use it a different way but also be careful with my back being fused. It’s a challenge and that’s the fun part about it.”
Woods shared 45th at the PGA Genesis Invitational six weeks ago, his third-round 67 the lowest round of his comeback from bone-shattering injuries that continue to make walking a greater test than shotmaking.
“I can hit golf balls, I can chip. I can putt, I can do all that stuff, but I haven’t walked and played a lot so that’s the challenge,” Woods said. “The body, sometimes it says no even though the mind says yes.”
Woods, 47, trimmed his 2022 schedule to the Masters, the PGA Championship — where he withdrew before the final round — and the British Open, where he missed the cut.
“I’m not going to play any more than probably the majors and maybe a couple more. That’s it, that’s all my body will allow me to do,” Woods said of future years.
“My back the way it is, all the surgeries, my leg the way it is, I just can’t. That’s just going to be my future… Hopefully this year I can get all four and maybe sprinkle in a few here and there.
“But that’s it for the rest of my career. I know that and I understand that. That’s just my reality.”
Woods has also faced the fact that time is running out for him to even manage a slimmed-down schedule. — AFP.
Online Reporter