LOS ANGELES – Tiger Woods on Sunday made his first public comments since undergoing fifth back surgery in December and left some significant doubts that he could play the Masters in April.
Woods, 45, whose foundation is the beneficiary of the Genesis Invitational, flew to Los Angeles on Saturday to be able to hand the trophy to the winner. He sat at the CBS booth with Jim Nantz for a short time during the final nine of Sunday’s final round.
And when Nantz asked Woods if he would be ready to play for Augusta in seven weeks, Woods said, “God, I hope so. I have to get there first. Much of this is based on my surgeons, doctors and therapist and making sure I do it correctly. This is the only lap I have, I don’t have much more room to maneuver left. “
Woods underwent surgery on December 23, 2020 and announced it on January 19 on Twitter, saying: “Tiger recently underwent a microdiscectomy procedure to remove a fragment of pressurized disc that was pinching his nerve after feeling discomfort after the Championship PNC. His doctors and his team have determined it will be a success and expect him to make a full recovery. ”
Woods added in the post: “I’m looking forward to starting training and I’m focused on getting back on the Tour.”
When asked about his back, Woods said, “I’m feeling fine. I’m a little stiff. I have another MRI scheduled so we can see if the ring is finally healed and if I can start doing more activities. But still at the gym, still doing the mundane things you have to do for rehab, the little things before you start to gravitate towards something a little more. ”
The only thing Woods said he did while he was away from the game is to stretch his club so he doesn’t have to bend that far. It is now the same length as your sand wedge.
“I make a lot of drill blade putts, hitting the equator with my wedge of sand and I realized that if I do a lot of it, I will stretch my club to the same length and it helped,” said Woods.
Woods played in just nine official events in 2020 and had a top-10 – a tie for the ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open, his first event in 2020. He played in a parent-child event with his son Charlie in December in Florida and had the surgery soon after.