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Speculation mounted as to whether Tiger Woods would play at next week’s Masters in Augusta, Georgia, when his plane was spotted at a local airport and he was reportedly participating in an 18-hole practice round.
Though Woods has been spotted on the golf course on numerous occasions — even while he was competing in the PNC Championship in December — he has yet to compete in any event this year and has said he won’t be on the PGA Tour full-time like he used to be.
Woods has had back problems for the past decade and broke his leg in a car accident in Los Angeles in February 2021. The state-certified orthopedist Dr. Rahul Shah said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that Woods’ injury history is “definitely eye-opening,” but every injury and recovery process is different.
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Inductee Tiger Woods speaks during the induction of the 2022 World Golf Hall of Fame at the PGA Tour Global Home on March 9, 2022 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
“The truth is you have to treat each injury one step at a time. If you chart his injuries, you start with multiple bumps and bruises growing up, and then he had the significant torque injury on his back that blew out one of his discs,” said Shah, who specializes in complex spinal disorders and minimally invasive surgery operations specialized.
“That gave him a problem and he had to shave it. Then it happened again, so they shaved again. But it wasn’t enough, so they had to do an operation to basically get the entire area where that disc wasn’t working well to basically stitch it together.
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“He’s recovering from that and of course all of this is salvage to try and get him on his wing. What this really says is the amount of previous runway he had, the amount of skill he had due to all that (injury) basically carving on his skill level.
Tournament host Tiger Woods speaks following the Genesis Invitational on February 20, 2022 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“Then he gets into this unfortunate (car) accident and from what I can gather from what has been leaked to the media it seemed like it was going to be a while before he came back and he made a significant recovery even quicker than expected . “
Shah said it was clear Woods was back in the mindset to focus on his recovery and get back on track. He said playing in smaller competitions could help him upgrade for the bigger tournaments.
“Also, he’s made some significant progress in terms of playing small games,” Shah said. “There’s nothing quite like progressing in smaller arenas just to make sure you can progress in larger arenas. He recently had this father-son golf game and he did well.
“I think things are getting harder overall, but he clearly has the skills and where he needs to go and the mental memory (and) muscle memory that he’s cultivated to at least give him the ability to make progress in some of these.” upcoming tournaments.”
Woods’ last PGA Tour tournament was the November 2020 Masters, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has not competed in any PGA Tour competition since then. And while there’s always a risk of injury, the small steps he takes help him get back into a rhythm.
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“I think his chance of injury is higher. Is it catastrophic? The answer is no,” Shah said. “And the reason is because he’s basically gone through some smaller venues and progressed and been able to hold his own. This tells you that he has the stamina and ability to progress.
“The real question is will he be able to hit the ball like he was able to before to get where he needs to be. And I think maybe that’s not the perfect comparison or starting point. I think what we have to do is see him progress and use his current games as a new baseline.”
Tiger Woods smiles on the 12th hole during the final round of the PNC Championship at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes on December 19, 2021 in Orlando, Fla. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Shah, a former Orlando Magic team doctor and partner at Premier Orthopedic Associates in New Jersey, expressed optimism that Woods would be able to play the full four rounds.
“I think there is a significant possibility that he will do it, especially because he has been training for it. We don’t see the training he went through behind the scenes. So I think there’s a really reasonable chance,” Shah said. “I would put it better than saying he does 80% every four days.”
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The first round of the Masters starts on April 7th and runs until April 10th. Hideki Matsuyama is the reigning champion. In 2021, he beat Will Zatoris with one punch.