Serious car accident in February 2021
The world of golf has been in a frenzy since yesterday. The fact that Woods had not yet removed himself from the list of participants for the prestigious Masters tournament at the legendary Augusta National Golf Club in the US state of Georgia was a side note that has received little attention in recent days. Nobody seriously believed that Woods, who has not played in a professional tournament since his serious car accident a little over a year ago, would start.
Yesterday evening, however, the American golf reporters went wild with enthusiasm on social networks. First they spotted Wood’s private jet, then the superstar himself at the Augusta facility. According to unanimous media reports, Woods completed an 18-hole practice round – exactly where the probably most important major tournament of the year starts in a week.
A bar stabilizes Wood’s shin
A few months ago, even the boldest optimists no longer believed that the living golf legend would return. Woods himself said that his serious car accident in February last year almost cost him his life. He estimated the chance that he could lose a leg at 50 percent. His right tibia had to be stabilized through complicated surgeries and the insertion of a bar.
A year ago, in an interview with GolfDigest, Woods said: “I don’t think I’ll ever have the physical ability to climb Mount Everest again and that’s okay.” Woods knows his way around comebacks. A series of back operations put Woods out of action a few years ago. When nobody seriously believed in a return to the tour, Woods came back.
Biggest win three years ago at the comeback in Augusta
He crowned his celebrated comeback by winning the Masters in Augusta. It’s been three years. The victory at that time is considered perhaps the greatest ever in golf. Woods can still take his time until Monday, only then does he have to decide whether he actually dares to start again this year.
No player on the tour knows the course in Augusta as well as he does. Nobody knows better what it takes to get through four tournament days here. Even at the age of 46, there is no doubt about his swing. The question Woods has to answer for himself is: Will the leg last four days in a row? Six hours a day. About ten kilometers on hilly terrain.
Woods may also decide that a comeback in Augusta is too soon. He himself has not yet made a public statement these days. But sooner or later he will attack again. With the goal of winning. It’s in his DNA.