Woods paints uncertain future for golf — and his place in it
Tiger Woods has voiced concerns about how much golf he can play, saying yesterday that “I don’t have much left in this leg.”
He also doesn’t have much hope the PGA Tour and the Saudi-funded rival league can get along unless Greg Norman is out as LIV Golf’s leader.
“Not right now. Not with their leadership. Not with Greg there and his animosity toward the tour itself,” Woods said. “I don’t see that happening.”
Rory Mcilroy also said in Dubai two weeks ago that Norman needs to “exit stage left” before there can be any meaningful discussions between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
Woods was forceful on the effect of LIV Golf, referring to friction the rival league has caused and how lawsuits stand in the way of any reconciliation.
“If one side has so much animosity — someone trying to destroy our tour — then how do we work with that?” Woods said.
Phil Mickelson was among 10 players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August, a lawsuit since taken over by LIV Golf.
Bryson Dechambeau, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones are the only players still involved as plaintiffs. The PGA Tour since has filed a counter suit. A trial date is tentatively scheduled for January 2024.
Woods said the lawsuits would have to be settled — he used the word “stay” on more than one occasion — or there is no way forward.
Woods is at Albany Golf Club strictly as the tournament host. He had to withdraw on Tuesday from the 20-man field at the Hero Challenge because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot that makes it too difficult to walk over 72 holes, even on a relatively flat course for a holiday event.
Woods said he was posting low scores at home in Florida while riding in a cart.
And his next two events — a madefor-tv match over 12 holes on December 10, and the PNC Championship with his son the following weekend — allow for carts.
“I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever shot you want,” he said. “I just can’t walk.”
He said the plantar fasciitis was related to injuries he suffered in the Los Angeles car crash in February 2021, which ended any hope of him playing on a regular basis.
A year ago, Woods was just starting to take full swings with the driver and his ambition was to make it to St. Andrews for the 150th edition of the
British Open. He wound up playing the Masters and the PGA Championship, too.
That amounted to nine rounds — four at Augusta National, three at the PGA Championship (he withdrew after the third round) and two at St. Andrews.
Woods felt he was making progress in the months after the British Open, only to hurt his right foot while trying to prepare for a 72-hole event in the Bahamas.
“When you get plantar fasciitis, the worst thing you can do is walk, and I was walking more and more and more, trying to get my legs ready for this event, and I just kept making it worse,” he said. “So had to shut it down.”
He said he would take a month or two to rest, which won’t affect his golf schedule because he wasn’t going to play that much, anyway.