Tiger Woods seems set to make his 26th start on the Masters subsequent week, however the 15-time main winner stays hampered by extreme leg injuries from a 2021 automotive crash.
Woods, whose airplane was tracked to Augusta every week in the past, is listed to talk with reporters at Augusta National on Tuesday and stays amongst these within the event area on the occasion web site somewhat than amongst non-playing champions.
But the 48-year-old US famous person, whose 82 PGA Tour wins shares the all-time document with Sam Snead, is scuffling with injuries, in line with his long-time pal Notah Begay.
“He’s trying to formulate a strategy and approach that he can work with given the constraints that he is presented with, and he has got some constraints,” Begay informed reporters on Wednesday.
“He has got zero mobility in that left ankle and really has low-back challenges now, which he knew he was going to have.”
Woods received the 2019 Masters for his first main title since 2008, however has struggled since making his comeback from the 2021 auto accident on the 2022 Masters, ending forty seventh when he struggled simply to stroll all 72 holes on the hilly structure.
Last yr, Woods matched a Masters document by making a twenty third consecutive lower, pulling stage with Gary Player and Fred Couples, however later withdrew resulting from plantar fasciitis and underwent ankle surgical procedure final April.
The five-time Masters champion reportedly performed Augusta National final weekend with pal Justin Thomas and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.
So far this season, the one PGA occasion Woods has performed was at Riviera in February, when he withdrew after one spherical resulting from sickness.
Can he stroll 72 holes?
The primary battle for Tiger Woods is strolling a full 4 rounds, Begay stated.
“He has been trying to find a way to recover,” Begay stated.
“He can play the golf. We at all times knew the query was going to be, ‘Can he walk the 72?’ That’s nonetheless up within the air.
“Can he recover from one round to the next? That’s the biggest question. I really don’t know and he’s not going to know either until he gets out there and figures out whether the way he has prepared for this year’s Masters is going to work for him.”
Tiger Woods has performed in solely three majors since automotive crash
Woods has delivered a number of the most spectacular shotmaking ever seen at Augusta National, creating roars that reverberated by way of the pines alongside the famed course.
He captured his first main title on the Masters in 1997, received once more in 2001 to finish a “Tiger Slam” of 4 main wins in a row, then joined Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the one back-to-back Masters winners with a 2002 triumph earlier than taking the 2005 title.
In 2019, Woods accomplished a fairytale comeback by taking the Masters, having recovered from 4 back operations that left him questioning if he might have a standard life resulting from nagging ache, a lot much less play golf once more.
After his 2021 automotive crash, by which he suffered a shattered ankle and a number of fractures in his proper leg, Woods stated he was grateful to nonetheless have the leg however battled back for greater than a yr to make a comeback on the 2022 Masters.
Since then, nonetheless, Woods has performed in solely three majors, withdrawing eventually yr’s Masters and the 2022 PGA Championship and lacking the lower on the 2022 British Open.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
Source link
