It is an image that is becoming increasingly rare. Thursday, February 16 at 9:04 p.m. (local time), Tiger Woods will put his ball on the tee of hole number one at the Riviera Country Club, in Los Angeles (California), on the occasion of the Genesis Invitational. It has been seven months since the great star of world golf has not played in an official tournament. For the occasion, the “Tiger” will share his game with his two best friends on the circuit, the American Justin Thomas and the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.
If he has never won there in thirteen participations, Tiger Woods nevertheless has a very special link with the Riviera Country Club, where the tournament which he has sponsored since 2017 for the benefit of his TGR Foundation takes place.. It was on this course that he hit his first shots as a child, then at 16, still an amateur, he made his debut on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) circuit. But this is also where, 15 Majors and 82 tournaments won later, everything almost stopped for him. Leaving the scene early on the morning of February 23, 2021, the American was the victim of a serious car accident a few kilometers further. Due to several open fractures in the legs, especially on the right, which came close to amputation, the pursuit of his career then seemed unexpected.
Two years later, the 47-year-old golfer is still standing…and full of ambition. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could win. That’s my mentality.” affirmed the former world number one, on the verge of this umpteenth comeback. You have to go back to July 15, 2022 to find his trace in an official competition. It was during the 150e British Open, which he had left moved to tears by the ovation he had received, despite a premature elimination (+9 after 36 holes, he had missed the cut). This poor performance put an end to a short season during which Wodds played only two other tournaments – only Majors – for a record far from his standards: a modest 47e place at the Augusta Masters (+13) and a retirement after the 3e round of the PGA Championship (+12).
“I’m not going to play a full season”
These results relegate Tiger Woods to the depths of the international rankings (he is currently 1,294e world), but seeing the icon of world golf on the greens is an event, like each of his appearances since his accident. “Would I like to play more? Yes. Can I? I don’t knowhe agreed. I’m not going to play a full season, so I have to choose my tournaments. It will be the Majors, and maybe one or two more. I have to be realistic… But I will put all my energy into these events. »
Tiger Woods may be motivated, will his body follow? The numerous fractures had required the installation of a metal rod on his tibia as well as screws to consolidate the bones of his foot and his ankle. And the scars are still present. In mid-December 2022, he competed, with his son, in the PNC Championship, an exhibition, in Orlando. But he then traveled in a cart to take care of himself. Two weeks earlier, he had to forfeit the Hero World Challenge due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot – an injury related to those sustained in his crash.
However, Woods wants to be reassuring. “It’s much better. It remains to be seen what my endurance will be », the American told the media on Tuesday. ” The key is day-to-day recovery. Yes, I’m rusty, but I’ve been through this a few times in the past, and I’ve done pretty well.”, he added, smiling. Between a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, in 2007, a rupture of an Achilles tendon, in 2011, or even back problems which led to a perilous vertebra fusion operation, in 2017, the American is a accustomed to serious injuries.
On the demanding Riviera Country Club course, including a steep descent from the first tee and then a climb to the clubhouse, Tiger Woods could, if successful, become the most successful player in history – he shares the record (82 victories) with Sam Snead since his first place at the Zozo Championship in 2019. But he will not have the easy part against the cream of the circuit: nineteen of the twenty best players in the world, including the world number one , Scott Scheffler, will be present. “I prepared well and I know this course. I know how to train well on it and what shots to hit”assures the Tiger.