Tiger says ‘it’s a blessing’ to be playing
Nicklaus tells Woods he’s made some big strides this year
DUBLIN, Ohio – Amid a massive gathering on the 10th tee Wednesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus somehow had a quiet conversation.
The two hadn’t seen each other since the Champions Dinner at the Masters, and Nicklaus, the founder, host and past champion of this week’s Memorial Tournament, had encouraging words for the man who has won this annual bash a record five times.
“He was saying that my swing’s starting to look a little bit better,” said Woods, who played with Peyton Manning in the pro-am. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m really not that far away,’ and he totally agreed. He just kept urging me to be patient with it because he could see that I’ve made some pretty big strides this year and I’m not far away from putting it all together.”
A year ago, Woods started piecing his life together again after he was arrested on a DUI charge in the early-morning hours of Memorial Day after he was found asleep behind the wheel of his car. His mug shot and a dashcam video of the arrest, which came nearly six weeks after Woods had spinal fusion surgery, went viral. Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to enter a program to battle his addiction to painkillers.
Many thought his career was over. Four months after the arrest, Woods said even he didn’t know if he’d ever play professional golf again.
But Woods wasn’t done, and slowly he improved by the day and got back on the PGA Tour this year, where he’s been in contention late on Sunday in four of his eight starts, with a season-best tie for second in the Valspar Championship.
“I’m very happy for him,” Nicklaus said. “I’m not surprised at him getting over that part … the addiction. With all the meds that he had for pain, that can happen to anybody. To have the thing that happened to him and come back from that and get his game and his life back in shape, is great.”
Woods said “it’s a blessing” to be back out playing on tour again.
“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to be able to do this again because I just didn’t know,” Woods said. “I was just hoping to be able to walk again without hurting, be able to sit down again without having this burning pain down the leg. That went away, but I didn’t know if I would be able to play golf out here.
“My surgeon said I would be able to play golf and play weekend rounds with my buddies, but whether or not I could play on tour would be another story and that was a big leap.”
Memorial defending champion Jason Dufner wasn’t surprised Woods made the leap. Last fall, Dufner played a good bit of golf with Woods in Florida as the former No. 1 and winner of 79 PGA Tour titles and 14 majors began his latest comeback.
“There’s a reason why he did what he did before he had the injuries and had these setbacks. People like this don’t come along very often, so they’re always capable of doing amazing things,” Dufner said. “I always maintained that if his health was good his golf game would come along. I know that he’s probably felt like he’s come a long way in 12 months, so I think it’s great for the game. I know it’s good for him.”
For Woods it’s always good to be back at Jack’s place. He’s won here from 1999 to 2001 and in 2009 and 2012. He’s risen from No. 656 in the official world golf rankings to No. 83 this year.
He’s an assistant captain for the Ryder Cup this year, but Woods said he wants to play in the biennial clash with Europe and he is one of many players getting fitted for uniforms this week.
“I know that the players and the captain wear different outfits as part of the Ryder Cup, and I would really like to screw that up,” he said with a smile.
But Woods knows he hasn’t won since 2013 and it’s starting to get to him. Nicklaus said Woods needs to learn how to win again. Woods agreed.
“I’ve been on runs where it just came pretty easy, getting W’s, and other stretches where it was very difficult. To me this is a little bit different because I’m coming back off of not really playing for a while,” Woods said. “But I remember the feelings when I was at Valspar, I had a chance to win there, finished second. It really felt comfortable. The last few times that I’ve had a chance, I’ve been up there on the board, I’ve felt very comfortable.
“Hopefully I can just shoot the low round when I need it.”
At least he has a chance to try to do that. A year ago, it looked like he didn’t.