Woods: Don’t ‘have much left’ in leg to compete more often

NASSAU, Bahamas — Tiger Woods’ comeback to tournament golf — slated for this week’s Hero World Challenge after five months of no play — ended before it began when he withdrew on Monday with plantar fasciitis.

The way Woods, the host of the tournament (which benefits his foundation), spoke on Tuesday, it sounds like his presence as a competitor at February’s Genesis Invitational, another event he hosts, is in jeopardy.

Woods, who turns 47 on Dec. 30, still plans to play the PNC Championship, a father-son event at which he teams with his son Charlie, on Dec. 17 and 18. He’s also planning to play in “The Match,” a 12-hole exhibition with Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith and Justin Thomas on Dec. 10.

He can ride in a cart in each of those events, which is why Woods said he can play. He said he refuses to ride in a cart for the Hero, because it’s a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

Woods said it’s going to take “probably a month or two of rest” before he can think about playing in a tournament for which he has to walk.

“It was the ramping-up process that did it,” Woods said. “It’s a balancing act, right? How hard do you push it to make progress while not pushing it too hard to go off the edge and you set yourself back two, three days? That’s been the balancing act the whole year. And trying to do that, get ready for this event, I did a lot of beach walks trying to simulate the sand out here and my foot just did not like that very much.”

Woods called it “a tough decision just because I want to play.”

“I like playing, I like competing, but unfortunately, I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever shot you want, I just can’t walk,” he went on. “So, I’ve had a few setbacks during the year that I still was able to somehow play through, but this one I just can’t. Only time can heal this one and stay off my feet and get a lot of treatment done.”

Woods said the plantar fasciitis is related to the damage in his leg remaining from his car crash two years ago.

“As I was ramping up and had to walk more, the worse it got,” he said. “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.”

Woods said going forward all he’s hoping for is to be able to play the four major championships “and maybe one or two more” tournaments.

“That’s physically that’s all I can do,” he said. “I don’t have much left in this leg. So, gear up for the biggest ones and hopefully, you know, lightning catches in a bottle and I’m up there in contention with a chance to win and hopefully I remember how to do that.”