CORNERED Woods playing pain game in bid to conquer Augusta
TIGER WOODS is showing “incredible mental fortitude” by returning to play the Masters through “24/7 pain”, Sir Nick Faldo has revealed.
The English legend presented the American superstar with his first Green Jacket in 1997 as the defending champion.
Now, 25 years later, Faldo is commentating for US television as Woods makes his latest remarkable comeback only 14 months after a serious car crash.
Woods, 46, nearly lost his right leg and spent three months in a hospital bed.
And three-time winner Faldo, who attended the Champions’ Dinner in the Augusta National clubhouse with Woods, said: “I have chatted to him this week.
“He said he is in pain constantly, 24/7. In his own ■ words, ‘It is just pain. I can deal with it.’
“It is incredible mental fortitude that this man has. He battles on. That is all he knows.
“He is pushing through the mental and physical barriers very few of us can comprehend.
“Somewhere during this recovery he has said to himself, ‘I am Tiger Woods. It is not going to end this way. I am going to end my career being a golfer.’
“He battles on. That is all he knows. You do know that anything is possible with this man.”
Woods first flew to Augusta last week to play a practice round and then rationed himself to nine holes on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday in the build-up to the 86th Masters. “It’s been years since I have played this much,” he said.
The world No.944 started with rounds of 71 and 74 to make his 22nd Masters consecutive cut.
The only time Woods failed to play the weekend as an amateur in 1996, world No.1 Scottie Scheffler had not even been born.
But Woods said: “I don’t feel as good as I would like to feel, that’s okay.
“I expected to be sore and not feel my best, for sure. It’s the combination.
“I can walk this golf course. I can put on tennis shoes and go for a walk. That’s not a problem.
“But going ballistically at shots and hitting shot shapes off of uneven lies, that puts a whole new challenge to it.”
Woods was 21 when he won his first Major here with a long, powerful swing which he developed with coaches
Butch Harmon, Hank Haney and Sean Foley.
He was forced to adapt again under Chris Como after his first major back surgery in 2017 and he won the 2019 Masters.
But now playing with plates and screws in his right leg, Woods admitted he has had to change his swing “a lot” to compensate.
“I can’t do much,” said the former world No.1. “The ankle is not going to move.
“I’ve got rods and plates and pins and screws and a bunch of different things in there. The ankle is fused.
“If I can’t push off, I can’t rotate as well.
“Fortunately, I’m still generating enough speed. My ball speed is at 175-ish when I hit it good, so that puts shearing on the back. I already had back issues and now this just compounds it a little bit.”