Rory fears Tiger’s ‘genius with a club’ may be over
RORY McILROY warned Tiger Woods is ‘not Superman’ despite his golfing genius and believes talk of him resuming his career after a horrific car crash must go on the backburner.
Woods, 45, required surgery on significant injuries to his right leg after the single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
A statement on Woods’ website said the 15-time major winner was ‘responsive and recovering in his hospital room’ after an operation to stabilise open fractures to his tibia and fibula and further injuries to his foot and ankle with the insertion of a rod, screws and pins.
The severity of the injuries has raised questions about whether Woods will be able to return to competitive action and McIlroy, one of a host of players preparing for today’s WGC event in Florida to express their support, said: ‘He’s not Superman, he’s a human being at the end of the day.
‘At this stage everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad. That’s the most important thing.
Golf is so far from the equation right now. It’s not even on the map.
‘We’re sort of heading towards that day Tiger wasn’t going to be a part of the game. I’m not saying that was soon. Before this accident, he was rehabbing a back injury and hopefully going to come back and play this year.
‘Hopefully he comes back and is able to play. If not, I think he’ll still be a part of the game.
‘It might be the end of seeing the genius at work with a club in his hand, but there’s still a lot of other ways he can affect the game in a great way.’ Dustin Johnson hopes his fellow American can complete a comeback to rival Ben Hogan, who recovered from a near-fatal crash with a bus in 1949 to win six of his nine major titles, including all three he could contest in 1953.
World No.1 Johnson tweeted: ‘Hate to see the news about Tiger. Wishing him a quick recovery and a Ben Hogan-style comeback. If anyone can do it, it’s TW.’