Tiger Woods says he has no concerns over returning to competitive golf three weeks earlier than he had intended, after significant back surgery.
Woods, who underwent an operation on a nerve in his back in late March, will play at the Quicken Loans National Championship at Congressional this week. Woods’s foundation is a key sponsor of the event.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the 14-times major winner conceded he had planned to come back at the Open at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, where he lifted the Claret Jug in 2006.
“It has been an interesting road,” said Woods of his recuperation. “This has been quite a tedious little process but it was one where, I got to a point where I can play competitive golf again. And that is pretty exciting.
“If this wasn’t the foundation and the impact we can have with kids, I probably would not have played. Our goal was the Open. I healed extremely fast thanks to all the different things we did. Obviously I am going to get stronger as time goes on but the risk is minimal. Just like every time you play; you could hit it behind a tree root or have an awkward lie.”
Woods offered the latest insight into the depth of his back discomfort, which had been obvious since the latter half of 2013.
“Pre-procedure, right before I went in, I wasn’t able to function,” Woods explained. “I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t do normal activities. When I blew up my knee, and even had my achilles problems, I could still do things.
“This was different. Anyone who has had any kind of nerve impingement, it is no joke. That pain going down my leg, was gone as soon as I stepped out of surgery was gone. I have had people say to me they had the same procedure and it was amazing the relief, it felt like they got their life back and that’s how I felt.
“I remember all the early years on tour when I would run 30 miles a week and still go play tournament golf – and I was winning but not realising how much damage I was doing.
“Now I have to pick my spots when I can and cannot push. When I was younger I didn’t need treatment. That is no longer the case.
“But I’m pain-free. It has been a very long time, probably a good two years since I’ve felt this way. With my back it was week to week, there were weeks when it felt fantastic last year and those were the ones I won. I won five times.
“Other weeks I couldn’t move and it just deteriorated from there. The symptoms would just go away then it would spring up again and I didn’t know why. The frequency started happening at a rate which forced me to do what I had to do.”
When asked if it was legitimate for Woods to maintain his career-long ambition of winning during this tournament, his response was firm.
“Expectations don’t change,” he said. “That is the ultimate goal. It is just that it will be a little bit harder this time. I haven’t had the amount of preparation and reps that I would like. But I am good enough to play and I am going to give it a go.”
Woods also revealed a novel approach to maintaining at least some form of golf sharpness in the immediate aftermath of his operation.
“Anyone who has had this procedure done, you can putt the next day,” explained the 38-year-old. “You hop right out of the recovery room and literally you are ok to putt. But you are not allowed to bend over so I wasn’t allowed to pick the balls out of the holes.
“So I had a little creative idea; we have normal size holes in my backyard and we sand-filled them. I would know if the putts went in or not but didn’t have to bend down to pick the balls up. We did that for a couple of months.
“Then it was chipping and pitching. Then we added 10 yards every day to two days, depending on how I felt and depending how much inflammation was in the area. My physios and surgeon were in lock-step all the way. Some days it was, ‘stay here for a couple of days’ and others it was, ‘you can progress’. I was out there hitting drivers a couple of weeks ago then I could play golf.”
