Tiger Woods has declared he feels in “fantastic” shape ahead of his latest return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge.
Woods has been out of action for 10 months after being forced to undergo a fourth major operation on his back, although his expectations have been tempered as he “does not know” what level he can perform to at Albany this week.
The 41-year-old admitted he was unaware of how bad his back problems were when he aborted his last comeback after one round of the Dubai Desert Classic in early February, having seemingly come through an encouraging week in the Bahamas in good health.
Woods led the field in birdies in his event a year ago, but he struggled on his return to full-field PGA Tour action when he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, and he conceded his health at the Hero World Challenge was not as positive as it had appeared.
“I was able to play and hit some good shots, but when I look back on it now, it looked like I was playing in slow motion,” said Woods, who plays the opening round of the star-studded 18-man tournament with reigning FedExCup champion Justin Thomas.
“It was about as hard as I could hit it, and I didn’t realise how bad my back had become, how much I was flinching and just how slow I was. It’s been a slow, degrading process. I thought I had some speed and was playing halfway decent. I shot some good scores, but now I’ve looked at it and thought ‘man, I didn’t have much at all’.”
“But I’ve come out the other side and I feel fantastic. I’ve had a lot of help from friends, and I just hadn’t realised before how bad my back was. But now that I’m feeling the way I’m feeling, it’s hard to imaging how I was living the way I was living, with my foot not working, my leg not working, and the hours I wasn’t able to sleep because of the pain.”
Woods also revealed he had enjoyed several “fun” practice rounds in Florida with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and current world No 1 Dustin Johnson.
“To do what I’ve been doing the last few weeks with the guys, it’s been a lot of fun,” he added at his pre-tournament press conference. “I’ve played some great rounds at home, and they have been fantastic. I’ve got to know a lot of the guys from the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup, and I’ve really become close with a few of them.
“I’ve played with Rory, I’ve played with Daniel Berger, JT, Rickie, Dustin and it was fun to be able to do that again, and something I haven’t been able to do in years.”
But Woods also warned that he has not yet tested his full repertoire of shots as he is still “learning” what restrictions he has with his body as he continues his long rehabilitation process.
“The shots out of the rough, where I was taking three cubic acres of rough with me, I haven’t done any of that,” Woods added. “Hitting big slices and big roping hooks and shots of that nature, I also haven’t done. I’ve just let my body tell what I can or can’t do, and eventually I’m sure I’ll probably do those things.
“But I don’t have to do any of that on this golf course, so that’s one of the reasons I haven’t tested any of that yet. I won’t need it for this event. Right now I’m just looking forward to getting through these four rounds and having a better understanding of where I’m at, because I don’t know where I’m at.
“I don’t know how hard I can hit it or what shots I can or can’t play. It’s supposed to blow this weekend, and if it blows 30mph, I’m going to have to hit some shots. I’ll have to lean on a few, play a few creative shots, take something off a few and maybe blast a few. I don’t know what the future holds in that regard because I’m still learning this body.
“But I just really want to be able to compete this week, play all four days and give myself a chance on the back nine on Sunday.”
